Amusing for Inspiration
by WikketKrikket
Summary: An artist with no ideas, a comic with no updates, a doomed attempt to set Ryou and Téa up, and Seto making friends...! One things for sure, when Muse Azreal Kiyoko comes to town, things are going to change for everyone!
1. Azreal, Angel of Destruction

A/N: Okay, I don't know quite where this came from, except that it's a slightly rewritten form of a fic I wrote a long time ago for my friend Scooby… the story of origins is too long for an A/N. See my bio if you like to know that kinda thing… Anyhoo, I only have to tweak the dialogue between Seto and Azreal (Yes, I know it's not spelt that way) so updates should be fairly frequent as long as I have the back logged chapters. Only warnings: Lameness and slight Seto OOC-ness. Disclaimer: The OCs and plot are mine… but otherwise, nada.

Important: I don't know what pairings we'll end up with… I have so many in mind it's not true… but I can promise NO boy/boy or girl/girl, and DEFINATLY no Ryou/Téa! He deserves better! XD

Chapter One

_"Seto Kaiba?"_

_"What's it to you?"_

_"It _is _you, then. I heard you were rude git."_

_"'Git'? What are you, British? You sound like a Harry Potter novel."_

_"Not exactly… Now, c'mon!"_

_"I'm not going anywhere."_

_"But it's your turn! You have to!"_

_"What? Do what? Go where? Just who do you think you are, coming here insulting people and giving half-formed explanations!"_

_"Didn't I introduce myself? Opps. I'm a Muse, 3rd class. Name of Azreal. Currently assigned to an artist with a lack of ideas. And _you're_ my on-site help. Everyone has to do at some point… Think jury duty. Anyhoo, I'll explain better later! We hafta get goin'! Sorry, I'm running a little late…"_

_"A muse. Sure. Whatever. I'm outta here."_

_"…Now, turn around."_

_"What the… What kinda trick is this?"_

_"I'm a muse. I told ya. Please don't tell me you're one of these people who have no belief in anything slightly 'supernatural'…"_

_"…" A glare, that would kill anything living._

_"You are. Crap… Fine. Look, ya can't get out of it, or the big-shots'll screw up everything for ya. I don't care if you accept it or not, just c'mon! We were meant to have got the ball rolling for the Wheeler guy half an hour ago!"_

_"Wheeler? No way. I wouldn't help him, even if you _were_ a muse. What are you, insane? Leave me alone."_

_"And now you hate the charge. Great. Bloody brilliant. He's not going to like it you know…Is that enough of an incentive?"_

_"No. Quit following me."_

_"If you don't…" Whispering._

_Eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't, even if you could."_

_"Take a look at me. Are you willing to risk it?"_

_"…"_

_"Well? Are ya, Mr CEO?"_

_"No. Fine. What would I have to do?"_

_"I'm under strict instructions to do everything by The Book… this time. Ahem. So, phase one is very, very simple. Here's what we have to do…"_

_-_

"Ryou." Ryou turned round to see Téa smiling at him. _Oh great…_he thought _What have I done now? She only smiles like _that _when someone's about to get it in the neck. Where are the others when you need them? _The answer was at home, sick from the meat pie the school had given them yesterday. Téa had just had salad, and Ryou had rather gone off school lunches since an incident a few years ago involving a casserole and a rather vicious unwashed fork. Needless to say, he now brought his own food.

"Good Morning Téa!" He said, trying to sound cheerful and not nervous. "What's the matter? I didn't think you had this class first period…"

"I don't." She said, still with the same smile on her face.

"Then what are you…" Téa held up a hand to stop him.

"I just wanted to thank you." She said, looking at the floor. Was she blushing? It was hard to tell, her hair was falling round her face.

"What for?" He wondered "I haven't done anything for you to thank me for."

"That's what I like about you." Téa said quietly. "But I want to thank you anyway. But listen Ryou, I think we should just sit and think about this…you can imagine what it would do to Yugi." Ryou was, naturally, completely confused.

"What? I don't understand. What are you-"

"Shh…" Téa commanded "Hear me out. We're friends Ryou, you know that. And we always will be."

"Well, naturally, but I-"

"Just think about it Ryou." She continued quietly. "I'm here for you- we all are, and we'll support you no matter what."

"Errm…Téa, I really don't see…" Téa ploughed on regardless.

"We'll always be here to help you Ryou- you don't- _we _don't need to be anything more- you understand that, don't you?" She looked up at him.

"Well, yes." Ryou said, bewildered. Téa smiled.

"Great! Well, see you later Ryou- and remember what we talked about!" She headed toward the classroom door, looking back at him expectantly.

"I won't…" Ryou began "Though I still don't-"

"Morning Téa!" Joey ambled past Téa, who was still in the doorway. "You don't have this class, do you?"

"No." She replied "I'll see you later guys." She shot Joey a look full of contempt. "You could eat _nuclear waste _and survive." She left, and Joey wandered over to where Ryou was sitting, stunned.

"What's up with you?" He asked "You look like you've just watched all three Matrix Films in a row."

"Huh?" Ryou asked, his brain too busy trying to figure out Téa to work out Joey as well.

"Yeah, they can do that to you." Joey nodded knowingly "I tried once- completely blew my mind with all that philosophical stuff. So…What did Téa want?"

Ryou was looking at him, wondering whether to tell him when the teacher entered. As the lesson begun, he shook his head indicating that he would tell him later.

However, Ryou wasn't the only one to get unexpected happenings that morning. Téa had got one through the Post.

-

"_How poetic." _

_"I nicked half of it off films. Now all you have to do is drop it in her door."_

_"I still don't see why you need me."_

_"Because I need a scapegoat if we get found out. Using this method… Well, no-one else is supposed to know I'm here. I'm even going to have to take your memories afterwards...You won't remember me at all. "_

_"Good."_

_"Ha ha ha. Still, looks like you believe me now…Finally figured out that my excuse is the only explanation as to why only you can see me, Seto?"_

_"…I never said that. I'm working on it. I don't believe any of it."_

_"Then why are you here to help me, eh?"_

_"Shut up."_

_"Just shove it through the letter box, Seto."_

_"Oh, giving me orders, now?"_

_"You betcha! I'm in charge of this lil' shindiggy MR!"_

_"…What?"_

_"Just do it."_

_-_

In the absence of nearly 98 percentof her usual friendship group, Téa sat with some girls from her form at lunch- it was nice to have some female company for a change. But then the conversation got a little boring…she liked make-up as much as the next three people- but how much could you _possibly _do with it? At least the conversations she had with the boys were somewhat more entertaining…

She smiled in reminisce, remembering some of the more obscure ones. Joey and Tristan arguing over weather grapes could be pointy and round at the same time- and she, Yugi, Duke and Ryou had just sat there, wondering how long it would take them to figure out how pointless it was. And when they did, Ryou calmly announced that it had taken them ten minutes- and added 'Oh, by the way, they're _grape _shaped. And it took you two _ten minutes _to figure that out…" If anyone else had said it, it wouldn't have been half as funny. It just seemed so out of character…

Téa's mind continued to wander. That was the thing with Ryou. He was so shy, polite and serious at first- but then once you got to know him, you found out he was actually quite smart, sensitive and funny to. Téa's grin widened as she remembered a story Ryou had told them after someone asked why he always brought his own food to school- It involved a casserole and a rather vicious unwashed fork, she thought. And she had never laughed quite as much as that…Strange how someone as quiet as Ryou had such a way with words that could make anything sound- Téa realised what she was thinking about _again, _and groaned.

_Why won't you just get out of my head! Honestly Téa, one letter and you're all over him! Snap out of it- it's pathetic!_

"Téa?" One of the girls was looking at her curiously. "Are you okay?" Téa gave a weary smile.

"Fine. Just got something on my mind, is all…"

"What's the matter? You know you can always talk to us…" The other girls nodded, exaggerated looks of concern.

_Yeah, like I'd just open up to you guys…_She sighed, knowing, even as she thought it, that she would.

-

_When Seto returned that day,Azreal was waiting for him._

_"Hey. How'd it go?" _

_"She thinks it's off Bakura." _

_"Ryou! She was meant to think Joey sent it!"_

_"Well, she doesn't. Like the mutt could come up with that kind of thing anyway."_

_"…"_

_"So? What now, Einstein?"_

_"I…I guess we go for plan B!"_

_"Which is…?"  
"It's much the same as Plan A actually. We just make it up as we go along!" _

_A groan._

_"Errm…Improvise…um…hmm…Got it!"_

_"Enlighten me."_

_"We set Téa and Ryou up instead! They look they could use it… besides, they're Joey's friends, right? He'll get inspiration from them!" _

_"Hmmph. Actually, I meant to ask you about that. Why do you want to set Wheeler up in the first place?"_

_A shrug. "That's what the book says. But we may as well just go with it and see where we end up now. Humans are weird…inspiration comes from anywhere…And letting love flourish will certainly get me bonus points!"_

_"Bonus points?"_

_"Yup. Points make prizes, remember?"_

_"Exploiting us? You know…For an angel, you sure don't act like one."_

_A giggling, girlish laugh. "Who said anything about angels? I've said so many times now, I'm a muse!"_

_"Even though you look like one?"_

_"Uh-huh. I'm no Angel, I promise."_

_"Says the stereotypical winged entity…who's _named _after an Angel…" _

_A raised eyebrow. "Says the stereotypical scientist. How'd you know that?"_

_"I…"_

A/N: So, what do ya all think? It's a little weird, I know… Oh well! Like? Hate? Confused? Think the explanation was as bad as I thought it was? Please tell me, I'll only update if you people like! If even one person likes, I'll put the next chapter up on Saturday… It'll only take half an hour to rewrite. In fact, I'm going to do that once I upload this. In the meantime, I'm going to start on another chapter… I have maybe 4 or 5 chapters worth, and I want to keep updates regular! So please, please, please, review! AND PLEASE GIVE ME TITLE IDEAS! Thankyou in advance!


	2. Confessions and Letters

A/N: Okay, the first thing I want to say is that Screwed up my formatting on my title. Originally, it was written as A-Musing for Inspiration. Get it? Muse? A-Musing? Yeah… Well, it sucks anyway…

Review Responses:

Galacia: (Hope I spelt that right!) You gave me a review! The first one! Whooooo! Thank you for the ideas for chapter titles… (Actually, there _is _one that starts with Seto screaming 'You did WHAT!'… or maybe ends. The original was all written in one big block…) As for your questions, I can't answer them here or there'd be no point to read it, now would there? But they should be made clear somewhere along the line… Eventually… Please just be patient and bear with me and keep reading and reviewing and making me happy:D Oh, and I can't comment on American High School cafeteria food. I write about what I see yo… and that is British Senior School canteen food. My friends and I always bring sandwiches… we don't wanna risk the food. Maybe school lunches are just grey slop the world over… o0 No doubt Seto will be insane at some point, or maybe a little of something else to… heeheehee… (You get a long response 'Cause you reviewed first! You also get one of Ryou's cookies… They're so delicious… and you get a special dedication for chapter 2! Congrats!)

Scooby2408: … I have nothing to say to you. A. I see ya everyday at school and B. You didn't say anything useful anyways. No cookie for you!

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh… I do NOT own it. However, I do have an extensive selection of the cards!

Important Note: Again, this fic is not Ryou/Téa, never will be, and was never intended to be. However, there are going to be some more…unusual…pairings down the line…But no Yaoi, I'm afraid, if ya like that kinda thing…

Now, onto chapter two!

Two: Confessions and Letters (Just for Galacia!)

"What is wrong with you?" Joey asked, waving his hand in front of Ryou's face. Ryou blinked, startled- and looked up.

"About time…" Joey groaned "So, what's up? You've been out of it all day… you didn't get sick off that pie, did you?" he added suspiciously.

"No." Ryou replied, gesturing at the sandwich in front of him.

"It's all well and good _pointing _at it." Joey sighed "Try _eating _it. You haven't touched them." Ryou took a half-hearted bite as Joey continued "Now, tell me what's wrong before I have to force it out of you! And if you say 'nothing'…" He left it hanging.

"Well…" Ryou began hesitantly "Téa was acting really weird this morning…"

"Why? What did she say?" Joey's reply was muffled as he took a bite from his burger. Ryou began to quietly relay the morning's events.

"Move up." A voice came from above them, and an arm came and shoved Joey over a seat. Duke sat down next to them and began to quietly eat his food. No-one saw Ryou's relieved look as Joey got into a comfortable position again and glared at the self-proclaimed die-master.

"What?" Duke asked.

"Well look who decided to turn up…" Joey muttered darkly.

"Hey, this stuff is a lot better then my mom's cooking." Duke shrugged "I usually cook, but when I'm sick…" He shuddered. "It's enough to grant anyone a quick recovery. So, what did I miss?"

"You can _cook_ Duke?" Ryou asked, surprised.

"Hey, we've all gotta survive, and-" Duke began, before Joey waved a French-fry warningly at Ryou.

"Don't change the subject." He said. "Carry on with the story."

"…"

Duke looked between the two of them curiously "What's going on?" He demanded "What story?"

Resigning himself to their 'help', Ryou sighed and began again.

When he finished, Joey and Duke blinked at him a few times, and suddenly fell about laughing.

"What?" Ryou asked, going red.

"I think…" Joey spluttered, trying not to laugh "That Téa has a…crush on someone…" Ryou stared.

"W-What?" he stammered for the second time in as many minutes "But…Why didn't she just say…there must be some mistake…"

"No mistake." Duke said, sobering up "Girls always say _everything _in a weird roundabout way. There's no doubt about it- Téa's in _Lurve_."

"Oh." Ryou said quietly, sounding as though he wanted to say some more, slightly stronger things. He went crimson. The helpless look on his face just made Joey and Duke crack up again.

"Don't worry Ryou." Duke said, slapping him on the back. "I'll help you!"

"But I-" Ryou began. What he was going to say was never known, as Duke went on oblivious.

"Course you do!" He said cheerfully "And I know exactly how to do it!"

"Errm…Duke?"

"Just trust me! Okay. Here's what you've gotta do…"

"That's so sweet!" One of the girls cooed. Téa sank lower in her chair, wishing that she'd never got the dumb thing out. "Do you know who sent it?" Téa hesitated, then shook her head. She didn't want to embarrass him…

"Who'd write something like that?" Another girl, Emma, wondered. She pulled the letter towards her and scrutinised it. "And you say it came through your door, Téa?" This time, Téa nodded, re-reading it for herself.

_Téa,_

_I don't have the courage to tell you face to face,_

_But somehow I have to let it out._

_I see sunrises and sunsets,_

_But nothing moves me as does your face._

_When you're away, I count the seconds as they fall through the hour-glass,_

_But when you're near, I just want to hide myself from your beautiful stare._

_I know you have dreams- and I wish you all the best,_

_All I want is for you to be happy-_

_And yet, as human, I'm a selfish being; and I want you to be mine._

_If you left town the pieces of my heart would be so small they could fall through an eye of a needle or the holes in a sieve._

_Being friends is torture like no other,_

_For every day I see your face,_

_Knowing that it will never feel the love in my kiss._

_And yet, if we were not even that,_

_I think I would be driven to the point of insanity._

_My heart beats fast and my lips are dry-_

_But I'm too scared to ask you…_

_If you will be mine._

"That must mean it's from someone who knows where you live!" Emma declared. Téa nodded. She had also drawn that conclusion.

"Lot's of people know where I live." Téa pointed out hurriedly "It's not like it's a _secret_, or anything."

"That's true…" another girl said. "It could be anyone…" They were going through the same thinking process that Téa had done that morning.

At first, she thought it was a joke. It seemed a little OTT. It wasn't like it could be _real…_especially as the author was meant to be her friend.She'd finished with Yugi ages ago- he wouldn't bother. As for Tristan and Joey- at this she had snorted- Yeah right. Those two wouldn't recognise poetry if it was dancing naked in an RB store. As for Duke…She had hesitated. No, he may have written something like this, but she was certain he would sign it. And as for Ryou…

Ryou. She had re-read the letter, this time noticing how it seemed to fit in _exactly. _But surely Ryou didn't like _her? _He didn't like anyone, as far as she knew… and that was when she had realised. What was it with her! She wasn't ready for a boyfriend yet! So why did they all seem to be attracted to her…?

Emma noticed her glazed look. She slapped Téa on the back supportively.

"Don't worry Téa! We'll help you find out who your secret admirer is! And then…"

"What?" Téa asked, growing nervous "And then…what?"

"And then…" Emma smiled "We'll set up the date." Téa sank so low she was practically under the table.

"I wish I would get a letter like that…" One girl sighed dreamily.

"You're so _lucky, _Téa…" Another added enviously.

"But I don't want…" Téa began, only to be interrupted.

"Course you do!" Emma said happily "It'll be great! Like one of those old movies- 6 girls, struggling to let true love find it's path!" Téa groaned.

"6 girls?" One asked questioningly "But there's only 5 of us…"

"Ah." Emma replied "That's because I know exactly _how _we're going to do it."

"How?" Emma smiled again.

"Ever heard of a girl called Mai Valentine?" Téa bolted upright.

"Mai!" She yelled "How do you know Mai!"

"She's my cousin." Emma shrugged "_And _an expert on this kind of thing." She gave what was meant to be a reassuring smile "Don't worry Téa! It'll be fun!"

Téa just groaned again and began to bang her head off the table.

_"So?"_

_"So what?"_

_"Have you thought of anything?"_

_"You seem very interested all of a sudden."_

_"It's not like I have much choice."  
"Scared, Seto? Of lil' ole me?"_

_"_Anyone _would be scared of… that."_

_"I beg to differ…"  
"Oh please, just don't tell me."_

_"I'd say that-"_

_"Be quiet."_

_"There's a whole lot of people that-"_

_"Just tell me your idea."_

_"That's changing the subject."_

_"You don't say. It's amazing how quickly you drew that conclusion."_

_"Sarcasm isn't getting you anywhere."_

_"It seems to have got me pretty far at the moment."_

_"Now you're just being a know-it-all,"_

_"That's what I am."_

_"…"_

_"What? No answer?"_

_"Just meet me outside the school at 9PM for Stage Two."_

_"You're just mad that you lost the argument."_

_"I haven't lost yet…"_

_"No?"_

_"No. I'm just post-phoning it till later. We've gotta do Stage Two first…"_

_"I hate to ask, but what's Stage Two?"_

_"You'll see… Just be ready to disable the school security systems. How long would it take you, by the way?" A snort._

_"With or without the keys to the keypad?"_

_"Without? Though I'm sure that could be amended…"_

_"…"_

_"Seto? How long?"_

_"About 30 seconds."_

_"Hmm…and _without _the keys…?"_

_"That _was_ without the keys." He stood up to leave._

_"And Seto?"_

_"What?"_

_"It wouldn't be hard…if you don't behave, naturally…A well placed poster, a couple of phone calls…I could do it myself…Even if, as you insist, I'm _not _a muse, and that I've just been sent to find out how gullible you are so I can kill you and your brother and take over your company to make _Tellytubbie _plush toys."_

_"I…I never said that."_

_"But you were _thinking_ it. Why won't you just get it through your head that I'm a muse? You know… For a genius, you're not very smart."_

_"Thanks."_

_"You're welcome. See you later!" With that, she left._

: The whole 'Key to the Keypad' thing… See, I didn't know how else to describe it. But ya know those little keypads that you put a code in to disable the security stuff and to activate the keypad you have to put in a key and the only ones who (Are supposed to) have one are the Head-teacher and the caretaker? Yeah. It's meant to be one of them thingies…

A/N: …That was a little shorter then intended; sorry…it's just hard to split it up into chapters when it was all written as one. Oh well. This was like a filler chapter, the others WILL have more happen in them… Hope you all liked the letter, btw. I really did nick half of it off films. I haven't had much experience with Love Letters, actually…. Anyhoo, coming up next time… Stage Two! Why does Azreal want to get into the school? Is it a complicated and fiendish master plan for World Domination! Or is it just another scheme to pair up Ryou and Téa? Speaking of whom, how will they fare now that Duke AND Mai are involved! Has Seto accepted Azreal for what she is! And will I ever stop asking you questions that you can't answer and that I already know! Find out on…Wednesday. Yeah. Let's go for a Wednesday/Saturday update pattern, ne? And let's see how long I can keep it up….


	3. Falling on Floor Tiles

A/N:…I have nothing to say, except the traditional I don't own not Ryou/Téa not Yaio yadda yadda…

Review Response:

Willowwind: Note I haven't wrote the second part of your name. That is because I can't spell at all, my stories are only legible if they are typed and spell checked… Both 'legible' and 'traditional' are spelt wrong right now. In short, my spelling sucks, as you've undoubtedly noticed from my reviews… Anyhoo, thanks for pointing it out… I would change it, but I'd probably just spell it wrong again. Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy the rest! (Oh, and as for the Matrix line… that came around when one of my friends, who hated and didn't understand the Matrix was taking the mick out of me. We threatened to tie her to a chair and make her watch all three in a row. For a while after that, whenever someone was confused, we said that they'd looked like they'd watched all three in a row… I haven't said it in ages, thinking about it… Oh well. Guess that part was written around that time…)

Chapter Three: Falling on a Floor Tile

"There she is."

"Duke, I don't know why you're making such a big deal of this. I-"

"Shh! Remember, you're not going to impress her if she hears you talking about her!"

"Duke! I DON'T WANT TO IMPRESS HER!" Duke blinked, surprised that Ryou was shouting. Then he regained his composure.

"Well, I guess she's pretty impressed all ready…"

"_Duke. _Listen. I do _not _like Téa in that way. I just need to figure out how to tell her…"

"Shh!"

Téa was nearly upon them. Ryou turned and quickly began fiddling with his locker. Téa noticed, but smiled gently at him, trying to let him know that he shouldn't be embarrassed to show his feelings.

Téa was smiling at him! Ryou felt his insides lurch. He liked Téa- of course he did, she was a friend; but why did girls have to make things so _complicated?_

From the corner of his eye, he saw Téa stumbling forward, and instinctively grabbed her, supporting her till she regained her balance. Then he let go.

"You okay, Téa?" He asked, trying to ignore Duke smirking at him.

"Fine, thanks." Téa replied, gritting her teeth. Arrgh! Stuff like that _always_ happened! It was just such a cliché romance moment! Falling against him, and him holding her up… Téa shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts.

"Téa…?"

"Gotta get to class!" She ran off before Ryou could say anything else and embarrass them both more.

When she had left, Ryou rounded furiously on Duke.

"What!" Duke yelled, withering under the accusing glare. The only time he'd seen Ryou so angry was… Well, never when he wasn't possessed, actually. "I didn't do it!" Ryou deflated as Duke stamped the offending lose tile back into place. Ryou turned and headed towards the Science labs. Unfortunately for him, Duke also had that class.

"Although, I couldn't have planned that any better…"

"Please, Duke…" Ryou protested weakly. "Not now…"

"I mean," Duke continued, knowing it was getting to him "That was just _too _perfect. She's gonna fall, and you're there to catch her in your arms…"

"Duke."

"And you say you don't like her." You could almost hear Ryou's patience snapping. He stopped. Grinning at the idea of what Ryou could actually do him, Duke stopped to.

"Duke." Ryourepeated calmly, as though he were a conductor announcing that the train was delayed. "If you do not be quiet I shall give Spirit of the Ring leave to do with you what he will."  
Duke coughed nervously "But…"

"And," Ryou continued "He will not hesitate to do to you what I could or would not."

Duke nodded "Understood." You didn't mess with an ancient spirit. "You have…errm…got it… _under control, _now haven't you?" Ryou gave a decidedly evil grin. Duke swallowed. He looked scarily like a vampire.

"I wouldn't say that…" He said slowly. Suddenly, Ryou started walking again; shaking his head.

"So, are you coming or not?" He asked cheerfully, as though going to a carnival rather than double Science.

_"What's wrong?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"Don't give me that. Spill."_

_"Why should I tell you?"_

_"…"_

_"No smart comeback? You're losing your touch."  
"To the contrary, it's fine. You know…"_

_"What?"_

_"Some people say that verbal insults are worse than physical pain."_

_"Your point?"_

_"That they are, of course, wrong- as you will discover if you don't tell me."_

_"That's off a TV program, isn't it?"_

_"Yep, more or less. _Blackadder. _So, tell me."_

_"You're so insensitive. Threatening me. I could have had a damaged childhood."_

_"Duh. We all know you have 'Daddy issues'. Now get to the point before I die of boredom."_

_"It's just that I don't understand something…"_

_"And you're _admitting _it! Blimey, it must be bad…"_

_"Are you going to let me talk?"_

_"Sorry."_

_"I thought you wanted to _'Inspire' _Wheeler-not that there's much _to _inspire-now you're trying to set Bakura and Téa up. I don't see how it's going to work…and yet…"_

_"And yet what? Didn't we already go through this? If Ryou and Téa end up together, I'm going to be a very popular muse with my bosses… Or, they won't follow up on their threat at least… I do _not _want to be fired. Again. It gets so boring… "_

"Do I look like I care?"

"You don't care for anything."

_"Ouch."_

_"It's true…"_

_"…Admittedly. Anyway, the point is, I thought you wanted to inspire him, not play matchmaker!"_

_"…"_

_"Hello? Today?"_

"Well, Seto, I did warn you…"

"About what?"

_"About me making it up as I go along."_

_"Oh great."_

_  
"Yup. Who knows what'll happen next?"_

_"…You're enjoying this, aren't you?"_

_"Yup."_

_"…Can I ask you something?"_

_"Shoot."_

_"You mentioned you're about to lose your job… What did you do?"_

_"So you believe in my work now?"_

_"You're avoiding the question."_

_"So are you!"_

_"Just give me a straight answer for once, would you?"_

_"I'll answer if you do."_

_"Deal."_

_"Of course, before I answer, there's one more question to be asked…"_

_"What?"_

_"Do you really want to know?"_

_-_

"Ryou?" Mai scrutinised Téa carefully "Are you sure?"

Téa nodded miserably.

"But this is great!" Téa stared at her as though she was mad.

"Are you" She managed to stammer eventually "_Insane?_" Mai laughed.

"Think about it." She said, growing serious. "You could do a lot, _lot_ worse then Ryou Bakura."

"I don't want to do 'it' _at all_." Téa whined. Then she stopped, realising what she just said. She joined Mai in the laughter.

"Okay, that came out wrong!" She spluttered. "The thing is, Mai, I don't _want_ a boyfriend! Especially not one of my best friends!"

"Okay, calm down…" Mai said soothingly "But seriously, hon. You should consider it. Ryou's a great guy. He'd make a great boyfriend."

"For someone else." Téa said firmly. "I am _not _going out with Ryou!"

"Sure? You two would be so cute together."

"Oh, don't start." Téa groaned. "Especially not after today…"

"What happened?" Mai asked sympathetically.

"It's a looooong story."

"Well, in that case…" Mai's eyes twinkled "I had better order us another coffee, hadn't I?"

By the time the waiter returned with their drinks, Téa had related how she was trying to act normal.

"And then…" Mai prompted. Reluctantly at first, Téa started to tell her about falling over, and it came pouring out. Except what she had been thinking at the time…She was _not _telling Mai that.

"…And then," She concluded forlornly "I had to put up with Duke smirking at me all day _and _try to ignore Ryou!" She buried her head in her arms. "Why do guys have to make things so _complicated_!" She wailed.

"That's what guys do." Mai said. "Listen, Téa, don't worry. You've just got to let him down gently and he'll be over this silly crush like that." She clicked her fingers.

"Really?" Téa asked hopefully "Do you think so, Mai?" She nodded encouragingly.

"Of course. Then things will go back to normal." She stood up, and started to go toward the counter to pay. "Don't you worry about it, Téa. Leave _everything _to me."

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Téa wondered quietly.

Chapter end-

A/N: Another short chapter… opps. Once we get past the original ones I wrote, which is maybe another chapter, they should get a little longer. Sorry again! Still, I like this chapter. Just to clear something up… the reason Azreal needed to get into the school was to vandalise the floor in the hope that Téa would…do what she did. Azreal's a muse… she knows what she's doing… sorta. I remember when I first had the idea for the tripping and falling thing thinking how cliché it was… Then I thought, well, why not? If you're trying to set people up, you would go for the clichés first… But now, looking at what I've got stored… Chapter four will be like chapter two… short and kinda pointless. But it's still one of my favourites; I just like some of the lines. Oh, and as this is a PG fic I should probably tell you all not to go around pulling up floor tiles as it's dangerous and someone could be hurt blah blah blah please don't sue me blah blah blah… How many ellipsis's am I gonna use already!

Next Time: Mai and the others begin to plot, Azreal introduces herself, and Seto gets advice on taking a chill pill! Join me on Saturday for another filler, but hopefully in Five we'll really get the ball rolling!

Sneak Preview:

_"You did WHAT!"_

_"I think I know someone that needs to take a chill pill…"_

_"Oh, for goodness sake…"_

_"What's the problem? I only told them what was going on…"_

_"Yes, and shot my reputation to pieces at the same time!"_

_"Ah, c'mon Seto… maybe it's not such a bad thing…"_

_"How so?"_

_"Well, it'll show that you actually HAVE a soft, sensitive side…"_

_"Let me guess. You 'forgot' the blackmail part, didn't you?"_

_"Might get you a girlfriend Seto-chan…" She had never bothered with name suffixes before. Now she was doing it to tease him, despite her frequent claims that she didn't understand them. _

_"…"_

_"Seto?" Had she overstepped the mark?_

_"Out." Yup._

_"I'm…Sorry?"_

_"Get out. NOW."_

_"Fine. Sheesh."_

See ya Saturday! I hope… And now, to the cess-pit. That is, school.

A/N: Just noticed that is screwing up my formatting. There _was _clearer breaks between sections, with hypons and everything, but seems to reject them. Sorry if it's harder to read, but please don't hurt me! Eep!


	4. To be missed and have Misgivings

A/N: And I'm back! At 7:30 on a Saturday morning! But no-one cares! 'Cause nobody's reading! Except you, Willowwind…

Review Response: 

Willowwind: The spelling thing- they were spelt wrong UNTIL I spellchecked it… heeheehee. As for your fic, I can't wait for the update! Go read and reviewit, everyone… NOW. Still, if I waited for a certain amount of reviews before updating, this fic would have stopped already. And this is one of my favourites so far, to. :'-( Excuse me while I go and mourn my self-esteem.

Three: To be Missed and have Misgivings 

The next day, Mai had got everyone except Téa and Ryou round to Yugi's, at death's door or not, and she outlined the situation.

"We have _got _to get those two together." She announced a determined look in her eye.

_"I was wondering when you'd show up again."_

_"Ahh. You missed me, Seto."_

_"Don't flatter yourself. So?"_

_"So what?"  
"Didn't we already have this conversation?"_

_"No…Anyway, so what?"  
"So, what are you forcing me to do next?" _

_"Getting into this a bit, aren't you Seto?"  
"You didn't answer my question."_

_"Woah, that's so _Matrix._"_

_"…"_

_"Uh-uh. You aren't breaking me like that."_

_"…"_

_"I have three siblings, you know! I'm used to Death Glares!"_

_"…" _

_"I can sit here all day you know!"_

_"I doubt that. You're too hyper!"_

_"Ha! Broke your glare!"_

_"…"_

_"That's just cheating…"_

_"…"_

_"Fine. Be like that."_

_"…"_

_"Seto…"_

_"…"_

_"Two can play at that game, you know!"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…Ah, man!"_

_"I think you just lost."_

_"Bah."_

_"You should have realised that I'm no loser."_

_"…"_

_"Sulking? Please. That's so juvenile."_

_"Oh, and a glaring competition wasn't?"_

_"…"_

_"Well!"_

_"Hah. Touché."_

_"Thank you."_

_"However, you lost, so you have to tell me what we're going to do."_

_"Who says?"_

_"I do?"_

_"You're very interested…"_

_"Just 'Spill it', as you would say."_

_"Well…"_

_"Well?"_

_"I think we can leave them alone."_

_"What? You're finished?"_

_"Ha. No way. Don't get your hopes up."_

_"Then why the sudden reprise?"_

_"They don't need us. Mai Valentine is involved."_

_"Ah."_

"Well, that's great, Mai," Joey yawned, lounging in an arm chair "Except for just one thing…"

"Which is?" Mai glared at him.

"Which is that Ryou _didn't send _the letter_."_

"He didn't?" Mai deflated onto a conveniently placed sofa. Yugi luckily had a lot of chairs in his house, due to his friends coming round so often. In fact, the main reason they always went round to Yugi's was so they could all sit down. "What makes you say that?"

"We do _talk _to each other, you know." Duke replied lazily. "He doesn't have a clue what's going on. In fact, he thinks _Téa _likes _him_." He didn't mention his part in this. He waited for a few moments for this to sink in. "Although…I agree, Mai. We _should _try and get them together." The other occupants minus Mai looked at him. He shrugged "Hey, someone else is obviously trying…and we know them better then anyone. We'd just be giving them a… push in the right direction to what's going to happen anyway."

"Hmm…" Joey considered, head on one side. "Yeah, alright." He said eventually, grinning "It'd do them some good."  
"Yeah." Tristan agreed, nodding. "Who knows? She might be able to get Ryou out of his shell…" They all looked at Yugi.

"Um, guys…" He said slowly "I think you're missing the point… Like Mai and Duke said, they don't have any interest in each other."

"Yet." Duke's smile was so large it took up half his face and made him look rather malicious.

"Fine." Yugi sighed, eventually, seeing that he wasn't going to win "If only to make sure you guys don't do anything _too _stupid…" Now that he was 'in' the others ignored him.

"I think," Mai began "That the first thing to do would be to find out who sent that letter- or who's trying to set them up. Then maybe we could…team up, or something." The others nodded in agreement, except Yugi, who groaned, and went to answer the door; as the bell had just interrupted them.

"Hello?" he asked. He didn't recognise the girl at the door.

"Hello." She gave a slightly evil grin "You called?"

_"You did WHAT!"_

_"I think I know someone that needs to take a chill pill…"_

_"Oh, for goodness sake…"_

_"What's the problem? I only told them what was going on…"_

_"Yes, and shot my reputation to pieces at the same time!"_

_"Ah, c'mon Seto… maybe it's not such a bad thing…"_

_"How so?"_

_"Well, it'll show that you actually HAVE a soft, sensitive side…"_

_"Let me guess. You 'forgot' the blackmail part, didn't you?"_

_"Might get you a girlfriend Seto-chan…" She had never bothered with name suffixes before. Now she was doing it to tease him, despite her frequent claims that she didn't understand them. _

_"…"_

_"Seto?" Had she overstepped the mark?_

_"Out." Yup._

_"I'm…Sorry?"_

_"Get out. NOW."_

_"Fine. Sheesh."_

_Yugi?_

_/Hmm/_

_What's the matter…? If you don't mind my asking…_

_/Ah, that's okay, Yami. I was just thinking…/_

_…_

_/Yami/_

_Yes?_

_/What do you think of all this stuff? Y'know, with Ryou and Téa…/_

_Especially Téa?_

_/I…/_

_I wouldn't worry too much Yugi. Let the others have their fun… it'll work out in the end._

_/I'm just worried they'll do more harm than good…/_

_Yugi, you of all people should know about Fate. It doesn't just dictate people's futures and destinies, you know. It works in love as well._

_/…I guess…/_

_As I said, don't worry too much about it hikari. Fate can figure itself out. Unlike that Maths homework of yours…_

_/Yeah, I guess you're right…Any ideas on how to 'use Pythagoras' therom to prove that these triangles are equilateral/_

_Are you joking? I pay even less attention then _you _do in Maths. You're on your own._

_/Arrrghhh…First I'm sick, then all this stuff with Ryou and Téa, and now IMPOSSIBLE maths homework…Give me shadow games any day…/_

A/N: Forgot to mention. Surprisingly enough, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Wow, bet ya never saw that bombshell coming. Hmmph. Anyhoo, that's the last of the original chapters! Yay! Chapter Five is ready and waiting for Wednesday, and it is Loooooooong. But, not much happens now that I think about it… Oh well. No-one's reading this anyway… So, let's end in the traditional way of rhetorical questions in a barely veiled attempt to bring people back on Wednesday for the next instalment! What will Azreal do now Seto's kicked her out! What will Yugi and the others do! And how will they react to Azreal herself! Speaking of Azreal, what is it about her that seems so strange! And will I get more readers next time! It's doubtful, really it is…

Sneak Preview:

**_If you're reading this, you've finally noticed I've gone. Took ya long enough! Anyhoo, I'm gonna go and talk to Seto… I have a plan of what to do next. You'll see… Just leave it to me, Kids!_**

**_Your Musing friend,_**

**_Azreal Kiyoko, _**

**_Muse 3rd class, Young adult, 2/5, Multi-task, 79268, West Block North, OPS (Optional Paid Service) (Minimum wage), Qualifications: Minimum, LIVR and bored of having to put all this junk every time I want to write my name…._**

Now, I have to go and work on this and my fic for White's Day… But first- Does anyone know how to get the damn spellchecker onto English English and not US English? Cause it keeps telling me I've spelt stuff wrong when I so obviously haven't, and it's doing my head in:-(


	5. Angels with Broken Wings

A/N: Okay, a whole lot of talking and huge chunk of explanation… Not for people with little time or short concentration spans… Thankyou to Willowwind as usual, but I think I've more or less replied via E-mail. Oops. Fancy treating my one and only reader in such a way…Yup, still mourning my lack of readers. And my dignity. Oh, Yami and Yugi's convo. last chapter. In the original, Yami's 'speech' was indicated by a double slash. But the website seems to be morally opposed to them, so they didn't show up. Sorry if it confuzlled anyone.

(Insert disclaimer/usual warnings here)

Chapter Five: Angels With Broken Wings

Having managed to talk her way into the house, Azreal seated herself on the sofa in a space that no-one had noticed before or that hadn't previously existed. Yugi and his friends looked at her warily. No-one seemed to want to say anything, so it was Azreal herself, clearing her throat, who started the conversation.

"So." She said slowly "I suppose you're all wondering who exactly I am…"

Nods.

"Ah." Azreal wondered if coming here had been such a good idea after all, and if she could tell them without breaking every rule in The Book. She closed her eyes, trying to think the best way to tell them, or a feasible excuse if she did not. It was only several seconds later, at the sound of surprised exclamations, that she re-opened them.

"What the!"

"Woah!"

"Huh! What…how did she do that!"

"And…and where is she now!"

Azreal blinked, momentarily confused, then was struck by a sudden thought. Slowly, she looked down at herself, and, surely enough, she had reverted to her ethral form somewhere along the way. She shrugged her winged shoulders. It was one way to tell them… Only Seto- or whoever's turn it was to help her- could see her in this form. Sure, she could materialise and take a human form, just as she had when she had first met with Seto, but it took energy and concentration to keep going for more then a few minutes- one of which she had evidently lost while trying to figure out how to explain herself. Taking human form was undoubtedly useful, but it was hard to do and she lost all her skills while in it. This was why those muses who preferred to work alone and amongst the humans had to get a special permit that would allow them not only to keep their powers in human shape, but that would let them withdraw the energy they needed to keep it up- almost like a Earthly Bank Account. Naturally, one of these visas were hard to get- Imagine what would happen if one was given to the wrong person- so usually the various Musing Branches had a special licence to give them to their employees on the strictest of confidence that it was for their work. All the other normal NIPs (Non-Inspirational Persons) as the government called them and Ethrals as they were known by everyone else had to apply straight to the government to get one in a long and tedious process that usually took several months and was usually denied. It took an incredible amount of side tracking to get references and character reports, so the process wasn't unknown to take years. And speaking of side-tracking… Azreal groaned mentally. Stupid short attention span…

As the others panicked around her, Azreal sat calmly and considered her options. Seeing as she was already de-materialised, she'd probably screwed up any chances of them trusting her anyway. She should just abort the mission, and hang around as the invisible, winged, glowing girl for a while. Yes, find out their plans and then make a quick exit. Straight through a wall. Yes, that was the smart thing to do. It would really annoy Seto if she told them what he was doing. Although… perhaps that was an incentive…Excuse coming ready-formed into her mind, she grinned in a very non-angelic way and dived over the back of the sofa. As she landed, something small and cylindrical slipped through the palm of her hand. She grabbed hold of it as her skin became more solid. Taking a deep breath, she stood up, smiling.

"Sorry." She said "Dropped my pencil." She held up her found item and then gave what she hoped was a confused look. "What's all the fuss about?" There was silence, till Joey pointed at the 'pencil' in her hand.

"That's not a pencil." He said. "That's an old Cheese Puff."

"Oh…" Azreal trailed off looking at the thing that was indeed a Cheese Puff in her hand. Then she continued, in a falsely bright tone of voice. "My mistake! Hold on!" She leapt back behind the sofa again. She'd have to De-materialise, wish up a pencil and re-materialise before they noticed anything. However, before she could do so, five heads peered at her over the settee- looking, if possible, even more suspicious then before.

"It must have rolled under the…" Azreal started weakly, then gave up. "You're not gonna buy this, are you?"

Several more firm head shakes.

"Oh…" Azreal climbed sheepishly over to them and resumed her previous position. Again, although the sofa didn't seem to get any bigger, there suddenly seemed to be more room. It didn't half make your eyes go weird. "Then I guess I better tell you all the whole story… at least then I can make sure you won't get me fired…"

So that's exactly what she did. And when she had finished, she was once again greeted with a deathly silence. She had hoped they would believe her… After all the stuff they'd seen and been through, she was pretty par-for-the-course.

"You wanted to set _me _up with _Téa_!" Joey repeated eventually, nearly chocking on the words. Now, the muse thing he could believe but… "And you wanted _Kaiba _to help!" Azreal nodded glumly.

"That's about the size of it, yeah. But now we just hafta go along with it I guess…" A shrug. "I'll just have to hope we succeed in getting Ryou and Téa together or I'm gonna be outta a job…"

"They're going to fire you?" Duke asked, still blinking in confusion.

"Yeah… see, there was this thing… I was meant to be Inspiring…A Casserole…and…" She coughed. "Anyway, it's good to see ya again Duke. How's the Dice game going?" He blinked at her. "Oh, right, you don't remember that… Nev'r mind, nev'r mind… Forget it. Again." More blinks. They decided to move the conversation on for the benefit of all those involved.

"Anyhoo…" Azreal said "I guess the next thing to do is to decide what we're going to do next." There was a collective sigh of relief. They were back on safer ground again. Unfortunately, no-one had any bright ideas.

"Well, I guess we could ask The Mutt…" Azreal said eventually, gesturing in Joey's general direction. She seemed rather surprised as the blond jumped her.

"What was that for!" she yelled, scrambling to her feet as Tristan and Duke pulled him off. Joey continued to scream obscenities until Azreal managed to figure out he thought she was calling him a mutt. But why…?

"Hold on…" Azreal reached into a pocket that was a lot deeper then it looked, and pulled out a note book with Joey's name and the number '69901a2' on it. She came to the 'Anger' page in the character notes and read.

**A laid-back human, there is not much that will get Joey Wheeler angry. However, he is constantly at arms with one **SETO KAIBA **(Character ID. 017796y) and the derogatory term of 'Mutt' that Kaiba has labelled him with. He is also known to be very over protective of his family and friends**, **especially his younger sister, **SERENITY WHEELER. **(Character ID. 69902b3)**

Azreal raised an eyebrow, surprised. Joey had seemed rather quick to temper to her… She hadn't read this page when preparing for this mission, but it was so small it was easy to see how she had missed it. Unlike Seto, who had a whole chapter. After all, Muses weren't fooled by those who chose to hide emotion.

It was then she realised that everyone was attempting to read over her shoulder. She swatted them away.

"C'mon! You're not supposed to see these! You're gonna cost me my job…" She screamed. The others shrugged and went back to their original seats. It's not like they could read the language anyway.

"I'm sorry Joey…" Azreal said. "I didn't realise. Actually, I was just referring to The Book."

"The Book…?" Tristan asked, tired of sitting in silence. Azreal nodded.

"Uh-huh. The Muse's Ultimate Tutorial and Tips. MUTT, see?" Noises of revelation echoed round the room. "I've been following it to a T, ever since I got here." Azreal sighed "Fat lot of good it's done me…Looks like I'm back to…Unorthodox… again."

"Well, who's fault is that?" Joey sniffed "If you hadn't tried to set me and Téa up…"

"That's what it told me to do!" Azreal replied miserably, waving the book that had come out of a pocket that appeared way to small for it. "Besides, if you think about it, this is all _your _fault!"

"How do you figure that?" Joey asked looking more amused and curious then anything else.

"Well, if you hadn't run out of ideas for your _stupid _drawings…" Azreal irritably, then she realised what she had said. "Whoopsie…" She gasped. There went a couple more rules.

"Drawings?" Yugi asked curiously, glancing at Joey. He'd never known him as much of an artist…

"Don't. Say. A. Word." Joey growled, glaring at Azreal. Azreal looked between them.

Joey.

Yugi.

Joey.

Yugi.

Joey…

Yugi.

Won every time, in Duel Monsters and everything else.

"The fact is Joey…" Azreal began carefully "If you don't finish your webcomic…or start it… whatever… there's going to be a lot of disappointed people. And that'll have a knock on effect 'cause your work inspires a lot of other people and…" Joey shoved a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. His friends were already demanding to know about his supposed 'webcom'.

"It's really no big deal…" He tried to assure them "Just a hobby…"

"And a pretty popular one…" Azreal said, escaping from Joey's hand and going to hide behind the protective wall that was Yugi's hair. Pity he was so short… "Hey, everyone! Ever heard of a webcomic called 'Angels With Broken Wings!" She felt a surge of satisfaction when ripples of surprise echoed around the room.

"Heard of it!" Yugi practically screamed "You can't go _online _without hearing about it! Joey! _You're _the elusive AngelAuthour! The one Internet Junkies the world over have been searching for! There was a rumour going round that you were Kazuki Takahasi for heaven's sake! But it was you the _entire time_!" (A/N: Heeheehee… We all like a good name drop!)

"Um…yeah…" Joey shuffled uncomfortably. What else could he say? Yugi looked about ready to blow up in his face (He had no idea anyone would take a comic that seriously) but luckily Tristan interrupted.

"I read that." He said, sounding like he was only admitting it because he had to.

"And me." Duke said. "And Ryou, for that matter."

"It was the whole reason I registered to an ISP in the first place." Mai sniffed "And you'rethe idiot behind it!"

"One of the character's had a dream about being a Magician…" Yugi said slowly "That's when I first added the Dark Magician to my deck." Suddenly Duke laughed.

"Remember that trick I played on you, with the dice under the cup?" He spluttered "I got it from your comic! And you fell for it!"

"Well, that was silly." Mai commented, as Joey went red.

"Not as silly as you spending a week looking for boots like that MOTD wore…" Tristan muttered, earning a wack upside the head.

Meanwhile, Joey couldn't believe it. He never thought he had that many readers, let alone his friends… Still, at least he knew for sure now who 'Madame Butterfly' was on the forum… He just wished they'd shut up as they began to compliment his art. It was nice to the point of embarrassing.

"But recently he's run out of ideas!" Azreal cried. He'd almost forgotten about her… She wasn't exactly helping. Then this lead to a long and involved discussion about what should happen to his main Characters- Phoenix, Maya and Lira- next. As such, it was almost two hours later when Yugi twigged that Azreal had left. And so had the space on the sofa that she had sat in. But that was beside the point. You'd have thought they'd have noticed the levitating piece of paper she'd evidently left behind though… Yugi plucked it out of the air, unfolded it and read it aloud to the others. With some difficulty, I might add, as the 'writing' was more of a scrawl then anything else.

If you're reading this, you've finally noticed I've gone. Took ya long enough! Anyhoo, I'm gonna go and talk to Seto… I have a plan of what to do next. You'll see… Just leave it to me, Kids!

Your Musing friend,

_Azreal Kiyoko, _

Muse 3rd class, Young adult, 2/5, Multi-task, 79268, West Block North, OPS (Optional Paid Service) (Minimum wage), Qualifications: Minimum, LIVR and bored of having to put all this junk every time I want to write my name….

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"I thought I told you to leave."_

_"I know. But I can't…"_

_"Why? Your conscious getting to you?" He snorted, it didn't seem very likely._

_"Partly. But it's not just that."_

_"Then what is it?"_

_"I…well, as long as you're my Earth help…"_

_"Yeeeees…?"_

_"I kinda… That is… I… I have to stay with you to be able to stay on Earth! I can only leave for an hour or two at a time!"_

_"Then why don't you go back to…Wherever the hell you came from, Azreal!"_

_"I can't go back to 'wherever the hell' I came from till I complete the mission. So you can see how this could be a little bit of a problem…" _

_"..."_

_"Please, Seto… if you kick me out I'll… well, I'll simply cease to exist." No answer. "Seto… I know you don't like me, but please…"_

_"Stop being so bloody pathetic, Azreal!"_

_"…Does that mean you're not kicking me out?"_

_"…Yes. I suppose. Yes."_

_"Seto…You're the best! I don't care what people say about you and you're emotional constipation, from now on I'm gonna stick up for you! And I am totally going to withdraw my bet on how long till you snap, Seto!" She felt ecstatic, and hugged the guy, who was at least a foot taller then her, around the waist. No big deal for her… But for Seto… For a moment he did nothing, but as his arms started to move of their own accord to hug the small temporarily-solid-not-quite-human back, he got a hold of himself and tried to pull away._

_"Get off me, you idiot!"_

_"Ahh… You know you like it really, Seto…"_

_"Azreal!"_

_"Fine…" She let go, and Seto could breathe again. She had a surprisingly strong grip._

_"Why did I ever let you stay…?" it was not the last time he'd ask himself that._

_"Because… No matter how hard you try Seto, under all those layers of coldness, there's a heart somewhere in there. It doesn't matter whether you're a human or a muse…Everybody has one. And, no matter how hard you try to lock it away, occasionally it's going to break out. Or maybe even just break."_

_"…Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"_

_"Probably not… But also more then you know."_

_"…Have you been hanging around with Téa?"_

_"No, yes, maybe, possibly, anyway!"_

_"Hmmph. Just tell me what you have planned."_

_"Enthusiastic, aren't we? Besides, what makes you think I have a plan?"_

_"As to the Latter, I'm not going to dignify that with an answer. And the former…the sooner we get this over and done with, the sooner you're out of my life!"_

_"Heh. You'll miss me when I'm gone."_

_"I doubt that. Currently, Azreal, you have overtaken Yugi and Wheeler as the bane of my existence." _

_"Really, Seto?"_

_"Yes, really, Azreal."_

_"Then…why have you suddenly become willing to use my name, eh?"_

_"I…I have to call you something, don't I? Now how about you stop asking questions and try answering some?"_

_"Whatever. Using my name is a step up from trying to ignore my existence, is it not?"_

_"Azreal?"_

_"You did it again!"_

_"If you're not going to tell me what you have planned…"_

_"Which I totally will. Um, at some point."_

_"Then just shut up, okay?"_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Another chapter done and dusted. This was incredibly long winded and the explanation was terrible I know. Still, living up to my name, eh? Even more so if my name happened to be 'Mindless Dribble'. Oh well. R and R anyhoo, flames hated, laughed at then ignored (Like on Mutual Understanding) but feel free to waste your time and send them anyway. Or even send good comments! You've wasted enough time getting here anyway, no?

And if a certain **Scooby2408 **is NOT reading this, Waffles4eva will not be a happy bunny…. _Looks Vaguely threatening _

Sneak Preview:

_"Urrghmmph…"_

_"Huh. You're awake. And here was me thinking I'd got rid of you for the night."_

_"Nah, I only need two or three hours a night."_

_"You've been asleep for almost five, Azreal."_

_"I…Well, unlike you. What are you doing up at this hour?"_

_"Work. You take up too much time."_

_"My brain's too floppy to argue."_

_"Not a morning person?"_

_"I wouldn't call this morning. You need to get some sleep, Seto. No-one can just survive on caffeine."_

_"I can take care of myself."_

_"Seto…"_


	6. Foiled by a Letterbox

A/N: Another chapter, if anyone cares.

Disclaimer: I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

I just have to say before we go any further that this fic was inspired heavily by the webcomic 9th Elsewhere which ROCKS but does not get the attention it deserves and which you can read at . I just want to say that although Azreal is very similar to Eiji, I created Azreal BEFORE I read the comic, though she wasn't a muse. Lira, however,(You'll meet him later!) is pretty closly modelled on Dorian... Kinda like getting all Dorian's bad qualitys, exagerrating them, and making them into anew character. And now that I've got that off my chest, I don'tfeel so guilty and I can get on with the chapter...

Chapter Six: Foiled by a Letterbox

"_I'm just going to remind you I'm against this."_

_"I know."_

_"And every thing it stands for."_

_"I know."_

_"This plan was doomed from the start, so don't blame me when it inevitably fails."_

_"I _won't_! Just get on with it, already!"_

_"I mean, I've seen _Wheeler_ come up with better plans then this…"_

_"Got any better ideas, Mr Hotshot?"_

_"As it happens, no. I just want to see how badly this fails."_

_"Then stop yakking and get on with it!"_

_"Yeah, great, just one problem. They're not here yet."_

_"Sure?"_

_"Yes I'm… How do you do that?"_

_"Do what, Seto?"_

_"Know exactly when they're going to turn the corner."_

_"I'm physic."_

_"If you're physic, then I'm a f-"_

_"Shh! Here they are! Go, now, quickly!"_

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Yugi chewed his fingernails miserably. It was strange; he'd never chewed them before Azreal turned up on his doorstep… Oh, the unsolved mysteries of the world. He glanced out the window again. He'd never been all that patient, and now he just felt he was waiting for his death. They all were, but he knew the others wouldn't see the noose till it was tightened around their necks.

Now, there was some happy imagery.

What were they waiting for? Azreal, naturally. They had all agreed to meet at Yugi's (again) and go to the park. They had deliberately told Téa and Ryou a later time to everyone else, just in the hope that they would end up walking together. That laid the way for Azreal to do… whatever she was planning. Yugi's stomach churned at the possibilities.

Duke and Mai had claimed to be the back-up. When Ryou and Téa turned up, they would all head for the park. And try to leave Ryou and Téa alone together, locked in a toilet or somewhere equally romantic. Just as long as it wasn't a janitor's shed. Yugi shuddered, remembering how he'd spent most of Valentine's day locked in one with Seto Kaiba. Now there was something he didn't want to repeat… (A/N: See 'Something in the Air') This train of thought took him a full circle till he was back to Duke and Mai again.

Speaking of whom… where were they?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Téa walked up the road towards Yugi's, looking out for any signs of her friends. Joey and Tristan would come up the main road from the school, Mai and Duke lived on the other side of town so they'd probably cut through the park (Why they didn't just meet them there was quite beyond her) and Ryou would presumably come from one of the side-roads from his apartment block.

Things were almost back to normal with Ryou. Téa supposed Mai must've talked to him, because they both seemed to be pretending that stupid letter was never sent. As it was, when Ryou turned out from an alley on the left on his bike, she was actually quite pleased to see him.

"Ryou!" She yelled "Wait up!" Ryou glanced over his shoulder, saw her, and stopped. As she approached, he smiled. A friendly, 'Morning!' kind of smile, not a 'Oh my god you're so hot but I have to pretend not to notice because it'll offend you what will I do?' smile. Téa sighed in relief. Defiantly back to normal.

They began to walk the last hundred metres or so, Ryou wheeling his bike along beside him. There was very little point in conversation except greetings- they'd be at Yugi's in less then two minutes- so neither of them bothered, just walked and thought.

They turned a corner, just as they had almost every day of their lives. But this was different. They turned, then someone, tall and dressed in black, ran past, snagging Ryou's Millennium Ring and snapping the cord from round his neck as he went. Ryou made an instinctive grab at the Ring as it left his neck, but then just stood and watched as the guy ran off with it.

"Um… Shouldn't we go after him?" Téa asked uncertainly. Ryou shrugged.

"Believe me, he's welcome to it. C'mon, let's get to Yugi's!" So that's what they did. It occurred to Ryou that it was strange someone would take the Ring but ignore his bike. Oh well. Probably another Physco after the Millennium Items. He'd have to give Yugi a head's up later. But in the meantime, he was just going to enjoy the sunshine and try to forget about the events of the last few days.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"I don't believe it…That plan was foolproof!"_

_"Then why did it fail?"_

_"Hey, I said it was _foolproof, _not Kaiba-proof."_

_"You are _NOT _blaming this one on me, Azreal!"_

_"No, as it happens, I'm not. I blame Téa."_

_"Right. And how'd you figure that one out?"_

_"She gave false evidence."_

_"False evidence… Well, I'm sure that makes sense in your twisted logic…"_

_"Sure does! See, every time someone slash something goes missing slash is stolen, Téa tries to get it back, does she not?"_

_"You ask that like you think I both know and care."_

_"Fine, fine. All I'm saying is, how was I supposed to know that she wouldn't this time?"_

_"Azreal, just tell me what to do with this thing."_

_"Shove it through Ryou's letterbox. Duh. You know, for a genius your not very-"_

_"Smart. I know. But speaking of smart, in case you hadn't noticed, this Ring is way too big for the slot!"_

_"Dammit. Foiled by a letterbox. Again."_

_"Azreal! Do something useful!"_

_"Okay, fine. Just hold on a minute…"_

_"Hurry up! I look ridiculous!"_

_"No you… um, well, maybe just a little. Think we'll scrap the black jumpsuits. But at least you finally got out of your dodgy trench coats, eh? And those weird armbelt things. I mean, why?"_

_"Azreal, my trenchcoats are- Look, can we get back to the task in hand?"_

_"Can't argue with that, can you?"_

_"Azreal!"_

_"It's alright! I have a plan!"_

_"Oh, and they've served us so well up to now."_

_"Seto! Alright, just drop the Ring and…"_

_"And what?"_

_"Run like hell!"_

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

How had they ended up here? That was a rhetorical question, of course. Ryou knew that they had walked to the park with Yugi, Joey and Tristan, leaving his bike at the Game Shop. They had gone to look for Duke and Mai, eventually forced to split up to scour the park. He and Téa had found them in here, the little-used community locker room. Then Duke and Mai had disappeared. And when they tried to leave the room, it had been locked from the outside- it was every night by the faithful old park keeper- the only problem was, it was several hours early. It was still morning. And, until someone came along, they'd be stuck here. Him, and Téa. Worst case scenario- they'd be stuck there till the next day when the locker room was opened up. Him, and Téa.

You could see how this could get awkward.

"Ryou?" Téa yelled, shaking him from his thoughts. It was evidently not the first time she'd called, judging by the mixture of irritation and concern in her voice. He looked across the table at her.

They were both perched on a rickety table, Ryou at one end, Téa the other. The table was designed for use if all the lockers in the small storeroom were full. The lockers themselves lined the walls, like austere soldiers on parade. Or guarding them. There were no windows in the room, just a single, swinging lightbulb which, like everything else in the room, was dusty and broken. Hence, the only light came from chinks beneath and around the door, and even that wouldn't last long.

"Ryou! Are you even listening to me?" Téa, defiantly annoyed now, glared at him through the gloom.

"Um… Sorry… Pardon?" Téa sighed, but gamely repeated herself.

"I said that it was so dark." She said "I was just wondering what Duke and Mai were possibly doing in here." Ryou shrugged. It had never occurred to him. Téa continued slowly, thinking out loud. "I mean, you can't see a thing in here. Why would Mai and Duke want to be alone in here? We all know Joey and Mai like each other, but the only reason I can think of for anyone to come in here would be to make out, so-" Too late, she realised what she had said and covered her mouth, stifling a curse. They'd been in here almost two hours now, and even with the little conversation they'd had, they'd managed to avoid the subject. Now, that talking about that letter was, well, _un_avoidable.

Ryou closed his eyes. He'd have to say something now. He cleared his throat. "Téa…I…I just don't like you that way. I just want to be friends… I'm sorry." Téa's response, if anything, was more surprising then her liking him in the first place.

"Ah, that's okay. I knew you'd see sense eventually. As for that letter… consider it shredded." Ryou blinked, confused.

"Excuse me?"

"That letter…The one you sent me." Téa repeated, wondering what was the matter. Then she realised what Ryou meant. "Not that I didn't like it, I mean, it was great but-"

"I didn't send you a letter." It was Téa's turn to be confused.

"Pardon?"

"I never sent you a letter." Ryou repeated. "This all started when you came into class that morning, when the others were sick off the pie. I never sent you a letter."

"But… Then who…I…" Téa was lost for words. Ryou, meanwhile, was starting to cotton on to what had happened.

"All this time I thought that…you…me…and so…Duke…"

The conversation continued in that fashion for a while, till they both reached a certain conclusion.

"Mai!" Téa screamed, "I'll kill you!"

"Duke!" Ryou yelled at the same time, before letting out a stream of angry English words. Téa blinked.

"What did you say?" Remembering he had company, Ryou went slightly red.

"Errm…Never mind." He was too polite to translate. Téa didn't bother to ask again.

"Ryou, they're trying to set us up!"

"I know! I mean, Duke and Joey convinced me that you… Well. But to set us up? Why!"

"I don't know…" She replied slowly "but confronting them won't work. They'll only stop for one thing."

"And what's that?"

"If they succeed." Ryou gawped at her. "Or, at least, if they _think _they succeed." She amended hastily, grinning slightly. Ryou couldn't help a wary smile to. He could see where this was going. It would either be fun or a disaster.

But what the hell. What did he have to lose?

o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"Urrghmmph…"_

_"Huh. You're awake. And here was me thinking I'd got rid of you for the night."_

_"Nah, I only need two or three hours a night."_

_"You've been asleep for almost five, Azreal."_

_"I…Well, unlike you. What are you doing up at this hour?"_

_"Work. You take up too much time."_

_"My brain's too floppy to argue."_

_"Not a morning person?"_

_"I wouldn't call this morning. You need to get some sleep, Seto. No-one can just survive on caffeine."_

_"I can take care of myself."_

_"Seto…"_

_"What? Stop looking at me like that Azreal!"_

_"…"_

_"Anyway, I've never seen you sleep before. I assumed you didn't need to…"_

_"I don't usually sleep in the same room as my help."_

_"Then where do you sleep?" A shrug._

_"In the Library, mostly. Working my way through that lovely Asimov collection of yours."_

_"Hmmph. So, do you usually materialise when you sleep?"_

_"I…"_

_"What, are you sick or something?"_

_"No! No, I'm not. Some humans snore or sleep-talk right? Well, I happen to sleep-materialise, okay!"_

_"Fine by me. What are you, hormonal?"_

_"…Just go to sleep Seto."_

_"I don't take orders from you. Besides, I have to get this finished tonight. It's called making a living."_

_"You're not exactly gonna go bankrupt if you leave it overnight, Seto!"_

_"That's what you think."_

_"If you carry on like this you'll just finish yourself off! And you and I might not care, but I have a feeling your brother would!"_

_"…Overreacting a little, aren't we?"_

_"Oh, Seto… It's not just the sleep… It's everything. You just never…Oh, I don't know. Please, just go to bed!"_

_"I will not."_

_"Look, I said, go to _Sleep!_ …That's better. Now you can stop asking all those questions. There's silence in sleep. Silence…and a chance to keep my secrets."_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Okay, another chapter done. Sorry for my pathetic spelling, I'm doing the A/Ns straight onto the site... And, errm, no sneak preview because I haven't written all of seven yet... ahem. So, go read 9th Elsewhere! Go read the fics in my favorites! Go do anything! Just go away!

And now, no more shameless plugging of 9th Elsewhere. Oh, if only it were avaliable in print... -Plug Plug-


	7. Hope and Logic

A/N: I'm back with another chapter. Obviously. Or this A/N wouldn't be here, would it?

Willowwind: Explantion on the way… kinda. In Chapter Eight. Buuuuuuut, if you're more perceptive then my OTHER reader (Who doesn't review, dangit!) You may guess… Speaking of being perceptive, spot the quote from your fic! (It's really not Hard…) Shall I get on with it now?

Disclaimer: Nada. Zilch. Diddly-squat. Zero. Términal. Except Azreal. She's MINE! (Um…Of course, I mean that in the least gay way possible…Ahem. Moving on…)

Chapter Seven: Hope and Logic

"Seto…?" Mokuba stuck his head cautiously round his brother's bedroom door. It was still dark in there. Mokuba knew it was the half term holiday, but it was after eight in the morning and Seto was usually up way before then. Maybe he was sick, or something… But then, that had never really stopped him getting up before either.

Mokuba turned quickly at a sound on the stairs behind him, and found himself looking directly into deep, blue-green eyes a few steps below. Realising that this time Mokuba was looking _at_ her, not through her, Azreal stopped her ascent and stood, mind whirling.

She must have accidentally materialised without noticing again. And in front of Mokuba! It had been happening more and more often of late, she couldn't keep it up for long, if she didn't get back soon, she'd have to… _Oh shift, _she thought _shift shift shift! Oh, CTRL ALT DELETE, in fact! This can't be happening! Not now! Not when I was finally… If mom hadn't…If I hadn't…_

"Who're you?" Mokuba demanded suspiciously. Although, it wasn't as harsh as it could have been. He just couldn't take a teenage girl standing on his stairs hyperventilating as a serious threat. She looked about as threatening as a marshmallow. "Hey…Are you alright?"

"Fine!" Azreal replied shrilly, getting hold of herself "You just made me jump." She regained composture and went up the last couple of steps to join him by Seto's door. "Isn't he awake yet…? Strange." Her sleep spell must have been more powerful then usual. _Maybe that's why I couldn't control when I materialised this morning…_ Her optimistic side thought. _Liar, _the pessimist side replied _that's not true and you know it._

"Look, just _who _are you?" Mokuba asked again. Azreal realised she'd need a cover story.

"Oh, excuse me." She replied. "My name is Az- Anna Mitsan, I work with your brother." She couldn't help but smiling a little sadly to herself. Anna Mitsan. Now there's a name she hadn't expected to use again.

Mokuba looked 'Anna' up and down. She certainly did not look the part, with scruffy, long brown hair tied back with a hairband that seemed to know it was fighting a loosing battle, jeans that were wearing into huge holes at the knees, and a very loud multi-coloured, slightly misshapen jumper. She was short, very short, standing perhaps a head taller then Mokuba. Thick glasses perched on her nose, but not very well, because every few seconds she had to push them back up. Behind those glasses were those amazing eyes Mokuba has seen earlier. They were a deep, dark, blue but it looked like someone had got a paintbrush and flicked a splatter of emerald green over the top. They met his eyes without a flinch or annoyance, and stared back at him with hawk like intensity, but he could see a definite sparkle there, a love of life, a need for fun… He blinked and dragged his gaze away, resisting the urge to shake his head to clear it. There was something weird about this girl, besides the way she dressed. She couldn't have been more then fifteen, so all in all, she did _not _look like someone Seto would work with. Mokuba wondered vaguely how long it would take security to get her if he called them now and also how this girl had got into the house in the first place. Not that they weren't used to girls trying to get in, Seto was very popular, but few actually got this far…

Azreal reeled a little to as Mokuba broke free. Not even her hypnosis would work for her anymore. Only to be used in the direst of circumstances of course, (Not that she hadn't broken practically every rule already) but it was the one aspect of musing she actually excelled at. The one thing the papers fawning after her mother hadn't been able to pick apart when discussing her shortcomings. And now even that had betrayed her. Azreal rubbed her forehead worriedly. Maybe she really was getting sick. Or maybe her sub-conscious was trying to tell her something... Azreal pushed these thoughts back to there customary place at the back of her mind, the excuse being that she needed to deal with the most immediate problem first.

"What? Don't say he hasn't told you about me." Azreal said, quirking a brow at Mokuba's disbelieving expression. "Well, that's his choice, I guess. Listen, when he wakes up, tell him I called round and that I'll be back later. There's something… something I just have to do." _Even though _she added mentally _given the circumstances, it's an even worse idea than usual._

"Wait a minute." Mokuba said suspiciously "I'm not buying this. Who are you and what do you want?"

"I already said, silly." Azreal laughed nervously. She went to rub her elbow- an instinctive movement when she was nervous- and noticed her hand had a mind of it's own again and was dematerialising.

_Oh Crud._

Azreal shoved the hand hastily into her pocket. "Well, it's been real, Mokuba, but I really have to go now…!"

Azreal ran off down stairs at a speed Mokuba would have been punished for, and rounded the corner in them. Mokuba followed only slightly more sedately, but as he turned there was no sign of the mysterious girl. Even an hour later, after a through search of the mansion, he saw nor hide nor hair of her. Mokuba shrugged as he entered the kitchen. It was obvious this girl was not a business partner.

_Oh well. _Mokuba thought, pouring some cereal. _I guess it's better that Seto has a secret girlfriend then that argues with himself in his room._

Yeah, better to be a liar then completely nuts.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

You may be wondering what happened to Téa and Ryou the previous day at the park.

After Téa and Ryou had been locked in for a few hours, Joey looked lazily at his watch and said "Do you think they've had enough now?"

"Yeah," Yugi replied, slightly worried "They've been in there for ages…"

"Alright, fine." Duke said "But first, let's get our stories straight- they're gonna wonder why we didn't come and let them out sooner, especially as Mai and I last saw them in there. You'd think that would be the first place we'd look…"

"Well, Ryou said someone came after his Ring." Tristan shrugged. "We can tell them we were going to look for them and then the same guy came after Yugi's Puzzle. And that Yugi beat the crud outta him." Yugi shuffled uncomfortably.

"Guys…" He groaned "I don't want to be the focus for all these lies, you know I don't…"

"He's right." Mai conceded "Yugi's a _terrible _liar. He could blow all this for us."

"That wasn't what I meant, Mai…"

"Well, what else do you suggest?" Duke asked, arms folded "We need some excuse for why we didn't find them hours ago. So, when we get there, act worried, okay?"

They began to make their way towards the temporary prison, but a hundred metres from it, Duke stopped them again.

"Hold up." He grinned mischievously "Act like we're in the middle of a conversation. You know, worrying and stuff." He headed off again.

"I don't like this plan…" Yugi groaned. He seemed to be doing a lot of groaning recently. "It's so vague!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"…his plan…so vague!" Ryou looked up.

"Did you hear that, Téa?"

"What? No, I didn't hear anything. Why, what-"

"Shh!" Téa complied in time to hear part of Duke's reply.

"… be around here somewhere. Cheer up!"

"That's louder then Yugi's." Ryou noted "They must be getting close."

"Then it's time." Téa said gleefully. "C'mon Ryou, just like we planned!"

"Alright."

"Remember, they deserve this."

"Believe me, I know."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Mokuba cocked his ear at the loud curse echoing down from upstairs. Evidently Seto had just woken up.

He got up, finished the last of his cereal, checked his watch, paused, and shoved some bread into the toaster. Then he sat back down, and waited.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Seto woke up, though he didn't remember going to bed. Well, he can't have done, seeing as his computer had just gone onto Standby and he was still fully clothed. Plus the fact he never deliberately slept in a chair. He must have fallen asleep when he was working. And he didn't get to finish either. Azreal knew he wanted to finish his document! She could've woken him up-

Seto remembered his argument with Azreal the previous night. There was defiantly something wrong with her. She had been so laid back at first, but now she was crying and yelling and screaming like a toddler. Maybe it was that time of the month or something. Not that he knew if muses _had _that time of the month. He supposed they must do or-

Seto stood up, cutting off his own thought trains for the second time in as many minutes. He didn't want to go any further down that road… Then he saw his alarm clock. Or, more specifically, the time on it. He closed his eyes and reopened them, but the glowing red numbers continued to blink impetuously back at him.

9:34 AM

Seto cursed loudly, no time for anything else, he had a meeting at ten, and ran down the stairs.

"Morning Seto…" Mokuba said wearily, as Seto practically inhaled a glass of orange juice. Good job his brother didn't oversleep often. "You should really eat breakfast, that's what you tell me."

"No time!" Seto yelled, but right on que the toast popped up. Seto grabbed the slices in one hand and his briefcase from the kitchen table with the other, balanced an umbrella under his arm for it was starting to rain, and ran out.

"Oh, Seto!" Mokuba remembered something "Anna Mitsan came round. Said she'd probably be back later."

"Okay, thanks Mokuba!" He shouted back, not even thinking about the message at that point. "What would I do without you? I'll be back by one!" He went out the front door and slammed it behind him.

"What would you do without me?" Mokuba wondered "You probably would have rotted in that stinking orphanage. Or you'd be suicidal by now."

When their parents had died, Seto had lost more then a mom and dad. He'd lost his childhood to. They'd both had to grow up fast.

But Mokuba was never one to stay depressed for long. Between him and Seto's suspected girlfriend, they were sure to get him back to his original self!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Well, this is the last place to look," Joey said, a little louder then necessary as he unlocked the bolt on the locker room door. "Let's just hope they're in here."

As the door swung open, it revealed Ryou and Téa sitting close together on the table. Very close together. Almost as if they had been-

Ryou and Téa sprang apart, and shuffled a little embarrassedly. They stood in silence for a while. Ryou coughed a little, then Téa spoke.

"It's about time!" She yelled "We've been here all afternoon! Now I know how Yugi felt on Valentines Day!"

"Why does everyone keep bringing that up…?" Yugi wondered quietly.

"C'mon! Let's get outta here!" Téa shouted, and marched out the door. Ryou shrugged and followed after her. Behind them, Mai, Duke, Joey and Tristan grinned at each other.

It had worked.

But Yugi, on the other hand, did not smile. He had a feeling the madness wasn't over yet.

And, the next day, the same day Seto had his meeting and the day that Azreal went off somewhere, (though Yugi had no way of knowing that), he still felt exactly the same.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Azreal groaned aloud, which wasn't a good idea, because this just caused her upturned face to get even wetter. Not that she'd admit this storm was her fault. If she couldn't control any of her other 'powers' then why would the weather be reacting to her emotions? It had never paid her any heed before.

Azreal stopped, and looked at the house before her. If three years old memory served, it was still exactly the same. The honey suckle trellis up the door. The peeling paint by the window she'd helped on it's way by picking at it. The door was even the same bright red colour.

But it was not _exactly _the same. The house showed signs of age, as everything else on the planet did. The red door was fading now- it was fresh paint when she'd last seen it- the honeysuckle was bushy and overgrown, the apple tree she'd played in as a child stunted and dying.

But her swing was still there. Azreal could see it, a little rusted, but still hanging firmly onto it's branch and swinging listlessly in the breeze just behind the fence.

It demanded to be sat on. One last time.

Without conscious thought, Azreal jumped over the waist-high fence and sat on what she still thought of as _her _swing. She gently pushed herself, but the swing was as well oiled as ever despite it's appearance, and it swung as silently as before.

Azreal was so drowned in half-buried half-forgotten memories that she didn't notice when a man came to the door of the house.

"Hey you!" He said, though not in an unfriendly way "Stay right there!" He began to walk down the path towards her. Azreal had that sinking feeling she'd accidentally become solid again.

Against her better judgement and screaming instincts, Azreal stayed put. She just had to see… She knew it wouldn't be him, and even if it was he wouldn't recognise her, but she had to see. Just had to.

"Can I help you, Miss?" He asked incredibly politely, considering it was his house and his garden and she was a seemingly random stranger.

"Um, no, I…" Azreal said, trying to swallow down tears. It _was_ him. So now she had got what she had come for. She looked away, back down to the house and saw a woman holding a small boy's hand in the doorway.

"Doug?" The woman called "Who is it?"

"No-one." Doug called back. "Just take James back inside, okay? Tell him daddy will be in in a minute." Azreal swallowed. He was happy. And he had a new family. There was no other reason for her to be here. She shouldn't have come in the first place.

"I… I'm sorry to have disturbed you." Azreal finished lamely, and began to walk away. Then she felt a catch on her arm. She turned around, but kept her eyes focused on the floor.

"Hold on a second." Doug said, sounding confused. Not daring to hope, Azreal lifted her head and met his eyes for the first time. "I know you, don't I?" Doug said slowly "But where from…?"

Azreal held her breath. It wasn't possible.

But then, she had seen quite a few impossible things recently.

She stopped those thoughts. _Hope_, she reminded herself, _Destroys logic_.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A/N: Now you've finished the chapter, you can go read 9E:D Just in case you don't already… See, if she can show her publishers that 9E has a big enough fanbase, it'll be released in Print! But, the comic's worth your while, I swear. Plus, seeing as the fic is an INCREADIBLE knock-off (I feel so ashamed admitting that…) You can find the address on the previous chapter, I think...

One last thing… Sneak Previews will now be posted on my bio. If you miss one, the next chapter'll be up anyways, so it won't matter! I'll be back on Saturday… Mwhahahaha….


	8. Dates, Meetings and Forgotten Memories

A/N: Look who's back, back again… Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala…. Wow, I hate that song… Let's sing a good song! Energy Drink! Energy Drink! Ow my leg! I think I'm blind!

Annnnnnnnnnd, moving on…

Willowwind, no long response again because you can find out RIGHT NOW! Oh, but about Mutual… It will be continued, once I'm done with this… I do have a good idea, but I wondered if I could write it in a similar style to The Secret Journal- Well, as a journal anyway. I'll E-mail you bout it, if that's okay. Don't want to give TOO much away for the general eye…

Disclaimer: DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

Chapter Eight: Dates, Meetings and Forgotten Memories 

"Hold on a second." Doug said, sounding confused. Not daring to hope, Azreal lifted her head and met his eyes for the first time. "I know you, don't I?" Doug said slowly "But where from…?"

Azreal held her breath. It wasn't possible.

But then, she had seen quite a few impossible things recently.

She stopped those thoughts. _Hope_, she reminded herself, _Destroys logic_. But it made no difference. Suddenly, Doug wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"Anna…" He said, not daring to let go. "Oh man. Oh man. Oh man…" He repeated this over and over again. It was as if someone had opened a gate to his mind and the memories were flooding back. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" He was crying, and so was Azreal. Combined with the rain drops, it was impossible which wetness came from where.

"Dad." Azreal sobbed. "Dad…"

Perhaps some family history would be useful at this point. Azreal was not quite what she seemed.

For Azreal was half-human, her mother's illegitimate daughter.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Seto was not up to his usual standards. He was distracted, looking out the window at the rain that was still coming down. He knew Azreal was out there somewhere, for she hadn't been at the Mansion that morning. Mokuba had mentioned someone named Anna Mitsan, and Seto couldn't imagine who else it would be if not Azreal, but he hadn't caught anything but the name. He wondered where Azreal had gone. Time was ticking away, she said herself that she couldn't stay away that long. He hoped she'd come back. She was probably mad at him for the night before. Seto shuffled uncomfortably. Guilt was not a feeling he was used to.

He should go and look for her.

But this was a very, very, important meeting. He just needed this contract, this deal to be done. He could sell Kaiba Corp. products in America. And once you get America and Canada, you can get Britain. Then Europe. Then you're pretty much world-wide.

He couldn't blow this off.

The Meeting could drag on forever. Azreal would die.

Which would be her fault.

But then she just wouldn't exist anymore. He was supposed to help her, after all.

Seto groaned mentally. He was becoming _way _too nice. Next thing you knew, he'd be handing out flowers and twittering on about rainbows and friendship. He stood.

"Mr Kaiba, I think you'll find our offer is perfectly reasonable." The American said, with a barely veiled threat. "We want Duel Monsters-related produce for sale overseas. And if you won't sell, we'll have to go somewhere else." Seto continued to the door, his heart sinking.

"Give it to someone who wants it. Try Devlin and his poxy dice game. I'm sure he'll accept."

He was weeping inside.

Later, Seto wouldn't believe what he had done. Not only had he refused the best offer he was ever likely to get, he'd offered it to Devlin on a plate.

_Waaaaaaaaaaay _too nice.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Doug was a painter, that was how he and Azreal's mother, Millierie, had met. Not yet head of the Musing company, Millierie was one of the rising stars, specialising in that most difficult branch of musing, taking on a physical form and posing as a human to get right up close and personal with their charge.

In Millierie's case, a little _too _close.

Doug's self-esteem was shot to pieces by a less than adequate childhood and he had vowed never to paint again. Yet talent like his could not be allowed to rot away. Millierie knew when she undertook Doug's case that it would take a long time. What she did not know was that when it became time to leave six years later, they would be married with a three year-old child. Anna Mitsan, as she was known on Earth.

But there was no question of Millierie staying. The President was teetering on his last legs, and Millierie was the favourite to replace him. The Public and the press loved her, she could do no wrong, she was perfect- With three girls, the rarity that was triplets, named Ruby, Emerald and Opal after their eye colours, who the public also adored. Even after Millierie's first husband died, she had picked herself up and carried on, worrying about the public and her duty more then finding herself a new man.

That was the official story, anyway. No-one knew that Millierie's husband had been exiled to Earth due to atrocities against her. No-one knew Millierie _had _found a new man, and one she loved.

Millierie made a decision then. She loved Doug, more then she believed possible- but there was no way that her three other beloved daughters whom she had seen precious little of over the years could come and live with them here. She could be the President of the most predominate Musing Company- a position often explained to the humans as being on a par with the respect and importance of the Pope. It would give her daughters the best life they could get, even Anna who would be in danger of losing her muse identity if she did not feel as though she was a muse. Then she would be unable to see her mother at all. Simply physically incapable.

So, one night, Millierie took her youngest daughter and slipped away back to Wherever, the home of the Muses. When Doug woke up, he did not love her because he did not remember her, though he was suddenly unable to paint again and he had a peculiar feeling of loss weighing down his heart. But it was a happy ending for him. It was too risky to send in another muse as he would just remember Millierie. So Doug, and his painting skills were forgotten. He eventually trained as a doctor in a small clinic, where he met his new wife, oddly enough called Ruby, after she came in with a broken toe. He learnt to love her, and over the years they had a child, James, now four.

Meanwhile, with her new muse name and mother's maiden name, Azreal Kiyoko, formerly Anna Mitsan, was growing up. You can imagine the scandal of the beloved Millierie returning with a secret, half-breed, daughter. But they couldn't have the Press turn against Millierie, or no-one could accept her as President. So her spin doctors pinned everything on Azreal, turning it into another tragic chapter in the woman's life. It was not Millierie's choice, even when she became the President.

Living in her perfect older sisters and perfect mother's shadows, Azreal was determined to prove herself to the Wherever population as something completely the oppisite to what they saw her as. She would become a great Muse, and show them all! The problem was, she wasn't very good at Musing. Even when her every short coming was described in great depth, her every mistake ripped to shreds, analysed, blamed on a certain half of her parentage and concluded to prove beyond any doubt that she was an irredeemable waste of space, Azreal kept on trying. (This determination was twisted to make it look like she was out for revenge against the Earth, but that's another story) Eventually, despite the prejudice against her everywhere and the majority of the populace seeing her as a vicious, cunning monster that was a burden to her mother, Azreal passed all her classes and became a fully-fledged Muse at only the age of thirteen- The forth youngest ever. Her older half sisters had done it at twelve.

'ANGEL OF DEATH TRYING TO OUTDO SISTERS? IS MOTHER NEXT?'

Was the chosen head line of many papers the next day. As you can see, Millierie made a really wise choice when calling her daughter Azreal. But still, Azreal was determined to prove them wrong.

The only problem was, everything she had been taught made sense in theory, but in practise it was… Well, complete crap really. At least in her opinion. So, even with all eyes on her, Azreal became a little unorthodox in her approach. She got the job done, undeniably.

But it wasn't enough to keep her off shaky ground. This was not the first time her job had been threatened, and every time it was a media circus. If she actually got fired… Well, it would prove everything they'd said about Azreal in her twelve years of residence in Wherever was true.

And this was her last chance to prove them wrong.

Doug was never supposed to remember, and he never did- Till Azreal turned up under his apple tree.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Meanwhile, Ryou's and Téa's first farce date was in full swing. It was, after all, the half-term holiday, so their friends had been expecting to meet up pretty much everyday. When invited to go bowling, however, Ryou and Téa had made some (deliberately) very suspicious excuses about prior engagements and had declined. So, they had spied on them. Or, as they preferred to call it, 'observed'; Duke, Joey and Tristan on Ryou, and Yugi and Mai on Téa. They had followed them here, to the popular café, The Milk Bar. And now, hiding behind the bushes outside the window, they watched the 'date' go on. Téa had got there a few minutes before, so when Tristan, Joey and Duke arrived with Ryou, Yugi and Mai were already there. They watched secretly as Ryou entered the place and went over to Téa.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Did anyone follow you?" Téa asked, deliberately making it look as if she were greeting him.

"Yup." Ryou said in an apologetic tone, to make it look to their observers like he was apologising for being late. Then, as though by way of explanation, he added "Joey, Duke and Tristan. I suppose Yugi and Mai followed you?"

"How'd you guess?" Téa asked curiously.

"I can see the top of their heads outside the window." Ryou said, sinking into the seat oppisite Téa as she laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Their not-so-secret observers watched in interest as the date went on. They couldn't hear what was going on, but it was pretty obvious from the body language. Ryou entered, apologised, and sat down. He'd obviously said something funny, because Téa was laughing. They ordered some drinks, and seemed to be having a pretty swell time. They were talking easily, laughing often, and when they finished their drinks they got another. All in all, things seemed to be going pretty well, until…

Until Téa said something, still laughing, that fell flat on it's face. Ryou gave a half-hearted laugh, but generally looked miserable.

Instantly sober, Téa leaned forward, saying something, looking concerned. Ryou looked down at his lap, spoke for quite a while, then shrugged uselessly, his hand flopping over the table.

By now, Téa looked both thoughtful, miserable and concerned. She lent forward, putting her hand over Ryou's, saying something that was clearly 'I'm Sorry…'

Ryou looked up, smiling and blushing a little even through the tears that looked like they were threatening to fall. He said something, Téa smiled and…

And Mai dragged them away, saying it was their _duty _to make sure it went alright, but no-one should spy on friend's kissing.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was tremendous fun. They knew Yugi and the others outside would have no idea what they were saying, so they could talk freely and still look like they were on a date. They were pretty much just insulting the people who had not only tried to set them up but were now spying on them, but they were also discussing what to do next and how they would end this particular joke. Ideas for what they could do were slowly getting more and more absurd/strange/psychotic/ridiculous (Quite possibly because of the sugar and caffeine in their drinks) and Téa had more then once sprayed drink around in a most unlady-like fashion.

"Your go to suggest one." Ryou grinned.

"Okay, okay…" Téa replied, thinking. She came up with the idea almost instantly, and couldn't help laughing at her own wit. "I know! Let's act like you're upset about something and make it a little intimate in here!" Ryou stifled a laugh and looked into his lap with such a miserable expression that Téa almost believed it herself. She put on her 'concerned' face and leant forward, as though to ask him what was wrong, but instead asked "Have you got a story?"

Ryou looked up awkwardly. "No," He said "But we can make it look as though I have just by me sitting here talking, not meeting your eye and you nodding sympathetically every now and again." Téa did so. "And all I have to do," Ryou continued "Is look pathetic enough to fool those idiots out side that think Yugi's hair would come _below_ the window frame as opposed to above it. I can say any old rubbish, as long as I look angst-y it won't make a blind bit of difference." He sighed deeply, looked down at his lap again, and shrugged, deliberately making sure his arm flopped down on the table. Téa knew exactly what to do. She tried to look sympathetic and covered his hand with hers.

"Well, this sure is embarrassing…" She said, trying not to laugh. They stayed like that for a moment, until they saw the others 'sneaking' away.

Oh, how they laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Speaking of sneaking away, Azreal pulled away from her father. It had finally stopped raining, at least.

"Anna?" He asked. "Wait, what was it your mother said… Azreal, wasn't it?" Azreal nodded.

"Do… do you want to come in?" He asked "We've got more then twelve years to catch up on! Come and meet my family."

"I…can't." Azreal said, then repeated herself more firmly "I can't. My job's on the line and I already have so many extra mind wipes and now I made you remember and I'm nowhere in Inspiring Joey, and now I've told you when I'm not supposed to, and to top it all off I can't even control- Never mind. But I really can't get fired!"

"You're only fifteen! What are you doing working full-time at that age!"

"I…"

"…Poor Ann. You've had a pretty screwed-up childhood, haven't you?" Azreal made no reply, gave her father one last hug and started to leave.

"Azreal?" He tried.

"Don't worry about me, dad." Azreal said "Once I'm done here, you won't even remember."

And so, after only a few minutes of being reunited, Doug lost his daughter for the second- and possibly last- time.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"Azreal!"_

_"Seto! What are you doing here? I thought you had a meeting!"_

_"I _did_."_

_"Then why…?"_

_"I came looking for you. You cease to exist without me, remember?"_

_"Oh, thanks…"_

_"So, what's the matter?"_

_"No…Nothing."_

_"You're crying."_

_"No I'm not. Really."_

_"Don't give me that. Look, Az, I don't expect sympathy and I don't give it. But I'm asking what's wrong, and don't give me that 'nothing' lie. I'm not stupid. So, what's wrong?"_

_"…"_

_"Why are you crying, Az? Why are you solid? Can't you control yourself anymore? Give me a straight answer Azreal- What is wrong with you?"_

_"Seto…"_

_"Tell me! I just screwed up the most important meeting of my career for you! So tell me, already!"_

_"I can't! Quit asking me!"_

_"…"_

_"You lost your parents when you were young, didn't you?"_

_"…That's a sudden question."_

_"Didn't you!"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Still, at least your parents actually cared, even if they weren't around for long."_

_"…Why do you bring it up, Az?"_

_"…"_

_"I give up. How about we get out of this gutter and go back to the house?" _

_"…Alright."_

_"Finally."_

_"Seto? I have to finish this soon. Tonight."_

_"What are you going to do?"_

_"It doesn't matter. Just leave it to me."_

_"Oh, I'm so reassured."_

_"Seto?"_

_"What?"_

_"Thanks for pulling me out of that gutter."_

_"I…"_

_"You what?"_

_"It's alright. You know…"_

_"What?"_

_"I think you pulled me out of one to."_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Fluff! Fluff! My first pitiful attempt ever at Fluff! Please, don't hurt me… ehehehe…


	9. Dreams Under a Fantasy Door

A/N: Whoooo! I actually got it done in time! But I'm afraid this time it's short'n'sweet. Though it's not really sweet… Maybe just short. And, there will be no update on Saturday, because I won't be here! I'm going down to my Nan's caravan in Hereford for the weekend nanananana! So, the next update will be next Wednesday- The day before my Birthday! Whoooooo! Thankyou AGAIN to Willowwind, who is probably the only reason I continue to put this up on the net, and to Scooby2408, the unseen reader, who isn't as good as Willowwind because she doesn't review, (Yes, once again, I'm going to ignore the complete pointlessness of her reviewing because I see her everyday!) is none the less appreciated! So, just for the two of you who bother to read this, here's chapter 9!

Disclaimer: Don't own YGO. Shameless take-off of 9th Elsewhere, I can't be bothered to explain again… See my bio or previous chapters for details and the addy! You are compelled to read the web-com of uber coolness! Azreal, however, is my OC and was around looooong before I read 9E, so no use without permission! (Yes, I know, flattering myself… Shall we move on?)

Chapter Nine: Dreams Under a Fantasy Door 

Azreal breathed the faintly-scented air in deeply and gratefully. She felt more in control then she had for days. Solid for the moment, but purposefully this time. She couldn't go in her usual form… She could only enter in mind. She needed some sort of an anchor to stay firmly put in this world so she could find her way back if she somehow ended up trapped. You never knew what to expect when entering someone's subconscious.

But enough dawdling. She had put it off for long enough anyway, waiting till late at night and choosing the _exact _room she wanted. Though perhaps the pickiness was worthwhile this time. She had found a seldom-used room which contained only a thread-bare sofa, which she was now sitting cross-legged on. However, the room had large French doors which lead onto a small- perhaps only a metre and a half out- balcony, which seemed to be directly over the dilapidated rose garden. Azreal had thrown these doors wide open, and the faint scent of dying roses reached and relaxed her. Had her eyes been open, from the position she was in Azreal would have seen a spattering of stars, half hidden by clouds. But the moon was bright and silver as metal, so it gave an eerie sort of twilight to the room.

The light was made even stranger by the doors themselves. Evidently once the room's crowning glory, the doors were made of an intricate stained glass, in all the colours of the rainbow. On close inspection, these doors had more then just random squares of coloured glass. There was a fantasy world depicted on the doors, that showed a dragon flying majestically up through some clouds, with creatures swirling up and around and below him, centaurs and unicorns, fairies, Sprites, pixies… As the moon light hit the doors and flowed through them, it transformed into colours spreading over the floor, as if the world shown on the doors was having it's very own Northern Lights.

You can see why Azreal had wasted so much time here, but also why she had chosen it. The whole room had the feeling of forgotten beauty and hidden secrets to it, especially in the quiet of the night. However, it seemed as though this room kept and maintained a prolonged silence, holding it's breath for some kind of climax. And Azreal knew that when the climax came it would be something wonderful and miraculous. She could almost feel the creatures of that world around her and if not exactly welcoming her, that they were accepting her and wishing her luck.

For the past few minutes, or hours, or days, Azreal had sat so still and quiet that it was almost as if she was made of glass herself. When she felt herself completely relaxed, she stood, walked across the room and touched each pane of the oddly cool glass in turn. She wasn't naturally superstitious, but it sure seemed as though they were watching her, so she might just as well acknowledge their presence.

"Wish me luck." She whispered, her voice sounding odd in the curiously muffled air. Then, smiling at her own folly, she went back to the sofa, closed her eyes, breathed deeply and slid into Joey's dreams in the same way as one might slip into a hot bath and with a much greater ease then she had ever gone into anyone's dreams before.

Back in the room with the stain glass doors, Azreal's breathing slowed and her body slumped over sideways.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Azreal caught a brief glimpse of Joey sleeping in his room but no more as she mentally slipped into his dream, where she looked around in interest.

At first she thought she hadn't gone into his dream at all, but was then disappointed to discover that Joey was apparently dreaming about sleeping, for it was just his room with stuff all over the floor and previously all over the desk (Before Azreal had unintentionally landed on it) and him spread-eagled on his bed, snoring.

"What kind of person _dreams _about sleeping?" Azreal wondered aloud as she crossed the room. She calmly began to poke Joey on the shoulder. "Yo, wake up, we've got stuff to do and the night is almost over!"

No response. Frowning, Azreal shook him.

"Wake up! C'mon, you're already sleeping in reality! What a waste of a dream!"

Still no response. Frustrated, Azreal jumped on the bed and kicked him a couple of times in the hip, punctuating each kick with a word.

"Wake-up-Joey-or-I-will-be-forced-to-take-extreme-measures!"

How he could not respond to that was anyone's guess, but Joey did not. Azreal was wondering if he was this hard to wake up in real life… She lifted her foot and stamped on his head, reasoning that it would only hurt till he woke up.

As she brought her foot down for sixth or seventh time, _hard_, Joey mumbled slightly, swatted at her foot, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Azreal stared. "Unbelievable…" She said, stunned, but then pulled herself together. (A/N: Hmm, Joey's so hard to wake up… I wonder why this scene seems so familiar? You know who you are…Coffee pots...)

"Oh, how I love casual violence in the middle of the night." Azreal sighed as she flipped the mattress off the bed- Joey was bigger and heavier then her, so it would've been much harder in real life, but in a dream only the most basic rules applied. Joey hit the floor with a thud, the mattress and the blanket on top of him. As the last of his quilt slithered off the recently vacated bed, the corner of it snagged Joey's alarm clock which fell to the floor and which started to sound for some incomprehensible reason known only to clock makers and those who can read German instruction manuals.

Azreal couldn't believe how quiet Joey's alarm clock was. It just gave a small, half-hearted 'beep-beep' sequence for a few seconds and then gave up. No way that would get Joey up in the morn-

But sure enough, it did. Joey sat up, pushing the remnants of his bed off him.

"What the…" He murmured, looking at his room being in an even worse state than usual and the time his alarm clock claimed it to be. Then he saw Azreal. "Azreal!" He yelled "What are you doing in my room!" No response. "Azreal? Um…Azreal? Yo!"

"Unbelievable…" Azreal muttered, then turned her attention back to Joey. "Oh, sorry… Hi."

"Azreal…" Joey said in a warning tone. "What are you doing here and what have you done to my room!"

"Oh, this isn't your room." Azreal shrugged. Joey looked round. It sure _looked _like his room. "This is a dream."

"Oh good." Joey replied, reassembling his bed "Then that means I can go back to sleep."

"You _are_ asleep, muppet." Azreal rolled her eyes.

"If I'm asleep, then how am I talking to you?"

"You're really not getting the hang of this, are you? But don't worry, you won't remember when you wake up!" Joey groaned and sat down on his bed. Azreal swerved round a pile of clothes, knocked the rest of Joey's stuff off his desk and sat down on it.

"There's a chair…" Joey muttered indcredously, not quite sure why he was suddenly bothered about mess in his room.

"Where?" Azreal asked, looking round the room. "Oh, wait, no worries, I've got it." She added the pile of clothes to the possessions currently residing on the floor and sat on the chair they'd been hiding.

"Azreal." Joey said more calmly then could be expected "What are you doing here?" Before Azreal could answer, however, there was a knock at the door. Joey went pale. He knew where this was going…

The person at the door did not wait for an answer but rather came straight into the room, revealing themselves to be none other than Mai Valentine.

Azreal looked back and forth between Joey, who shrugged in a sheepish way, and Mai, who stood still in the doorway as though she was waiting for something. After a few minutes of looking back and forth between them, searching for an answer, Azreal had to stop, feeling dizzy. Once the dizziness had passed, however, Azreal finally cottoned on to just what was going on. It was not a revelation she desired.

"Urrgh…" She groaned in distaste. She turned to Joey and yelled "You little pervert!" She began firmly pushing Joey's dream-Mai back out the door. "Forget not tampering with dreams more then absolutely necessary, I refuse to be a witness of…of… oh, I don't know! I don't even wanna _think _about it!" Having got dream-Mai outside the door into the nothingness that seemed to have manifested itself outside Joey's door, Azreal shut it behind her and looked sternly at Joey.

"And I'm sure that if that had been the _real _Mai, she would thank me for protecting her integrity!"

Joey squirmed embarrassedly "Um… It's not like I can control what I dream… not normally, anyway. Right now I guess I'm kinda…but usually-"

Azreal held up a hand "I don't want to hear it. Let's just pretend that this never happened and forget all about it."

"Easier said then done." Joey snorted.

"It is for me…" Azreal groaned "You're lucky, you won't remember this is in the morning…"

"If I'm not going to remember this in the morning, it brings us back to the original question…What's the point in you being here?"

"I'm getting to that!" Azreal huffed, reassuming her original position on the desk, neglecting the chair. "I'm here for one simple reason, and one only: To tell you to get your butt in gear!"

Joey blinked.

"You heard me, Joey!" Azreal said "That comic of yours has been waiting for what, a week and a half now? And it used to be daily! People depend on that comic, man, it sheds a little sunshine into their day. So why have you stopped?"

Joey shrugged.

"Why have you stopped!"

"I'm out of ideas." Joey sighed, flopping onto his back to lie on his bed. "That's it, nothing else to it. I'd love to continue it, really I would, but without any ideas… I'm going to have to stop the comic."

"What! I happen to know that comic's been a major part of your life for going on two years now! You wouldn't just be losing a hobby if you stopped, you'd be losing part of _yourself_! You've never given up before, in anything, so don't give up now!"

"It's not a question of giving up! It's a question of if and how to continue!"

"What about all those ideas Yugi and the others gave you?"

"I tried! I just couldn't make it… real! I couldn't make it real, and I'd rather have no comic then a sub-par one!"

"Well, in that case, I guess I'm just gonna hafta beam you."

Joey was taken aback. "Huh? _Beam _me?"

"Uh-huh." Azreal shrugged "Beam you. Pump some good ole' raw inspiration out into the air. That should get you going again!"

"Um…Alright…" Joey replied.

"Great!" Azreal held her hands out in front of her, and got pumping, looking on in interest to see how the Inspiration would manifest itself in this particular dream. "Hmm…" She said, watching a wisp of blue-green sea-scented smoke curl round her wrist. "That's a new one. Usually it's just golden sparkles or something…" Then she closed her eyes, and Joey closed his as the room began to quickly fill with the oddly refreshing smoke.

It wasn't really raw Inspiration, of course. There was no such thing. All it really was was special effects and a feel-good, uplifting, but relaxing vibe. Muses couldn't even do it for real, only in dreams. However, people seemed to respond better if they _thought_ it was Inspiration due to some technical/physiological thing which Azreal was probably supposed to know but didn't. All she knew was, people were more creative when they were relaxed, or, alternatively, they created to help them relax. Either way, it was generally successful, and as long as it worked, who cared why?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Joey was more or less out-cold on his bed when Azreal was done. Perhaps she'd over-done it a bit… Oh well. At least she knew that he was defiantly relaxed now! Time to return to her own body and wake up herself, before Joey did and she was trapped in a dream that didn't exist.

Which was shortly discovered to be easier said then done. Azreal cursed aloud. She must've been worse off then she thought… She hadn't noticed how weak her powers had become outside of her own body. Or had refused to see. Either way, perhaps this was not such a good idea.

In a combination of sheer panic and determination, Azreal shoved, forced, and slid back into her body, but with no great ease. It was the first time it had ever hurt to do so. The pain was intense, as though it was trying to push her back, but if she stopped, she would be stuck here in limbo forever. Better to make it back to her body and possibly die after the strain then that.

Eventually, she prevailed and, in what can only be described as a mental falling movement, she got through the final resistance and back into her body. But she did not wake. Merely jerked, and went back into a fitful sleep somewhere between death and life.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next morning, Seto was glaring at a door. Or to be precise _the _door. Azreal had disappeared, but in order to tell weather she'd done another runner, he'd first have to check the entire mansion systematically. Which meant this one came now. He certainly wasn't going to come back to it. Gritting his teeth, he opened the door and stepped through.

The first thing that struck him was the cold. And it was no wonder, he saw, as the stain glass doors had been flung wide open and had presumably been all night. He shut them, glaring at a set of doors for the second time that morning. He had never liked those doors… He didn't think his step-father had, or Mokuba did either. They were just creepy. Like they were always… watching. And yet every time he went with the intention to take them down, he remembered something that needed doing right away. Every single time. So, the room had been left to rot alone. Until now, it seemed.

Azreal was lying on the sofa, sleeping. If it could be described as that. It seemed more of a tossing, turning and writhing activity then sleeping. Even half way across the room, Seto could see the sweat breaking out on her face and body.

And it worried him.

Sighing, he went to fetch a blanket and returned to cover her quivering form. She looked do small and fragile, curled up around herself like that…

And she had claimed not to be sick.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Well, chapter nine is done, and even though it is at the most _inopportune _time, there will be **no update on Saturday. **The next update will be next Wednesday- the day before my Birthday and the day before my sleepover! Yay! Excited here! Especially as my brother and sister are threatening to buy me… POCKY! They finally found a place that sells it! Now, I've never tried any, but it looks so delicious…

But I divulge.

Ahem.

So, all that remains to be said is: remember the true meaning of Easter, when Christ rose again to give all his Disciples chocolate eggs.

Wait.

Oh, screw it. You all know what I mean, and if you don't, convert to my religion and learn! There's eternal salvation in it for ya, you know…

Happy Easter everyone:-)


	10. The End of Azreal? Background to the fi...

A/N: Not much to say… Except this chapter's early! W0ot!

Willowwind, here's the next chapter… and aren't I special enough to get E-mail anymore? –sniffle- only kidding. How's it going with the cousins from the state I can't even PRONOUNCE, let alone spell?

Disclaimer: If I said that I owned YGO and that I never told lies, you would believe me. (Think about it…)

Chapter Ten: The End of Azreal?

Joey awoke with a fading feeling of embarrassment, though he didn't know why. The more awake he became, the more he forgot it so it probably wasn't important. At least, not as important as breakfast.

Having rolled out of bed, Joey began to walk across his room to the door in order to leave the room. However, as he did so, he felt his eyes being drawn to his desk.

There was nothing usual about the desk, nothing special, it was exactly the same as he'd left it the day before; littered with pencils and rubbers, screwed up pieces of paper all over everywhere…his attempts at drawing over the last week and a half. No doubt he'd just sit down again today and leave in frustration, just as he had done everyday. But then again…he did have one idea…

Hardly daring to hope, Joey removed a pile of clothes from his chair and sat down slowly. Would he able to draw anything this time?

The pencil practically leapt into his hand, and the images to his mind. At first they came slowly, but then they just seemed to skip the pencil and pour out, fully formed onto the paper.

He smiled. Joey Wheeler had got his art back.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"Urrghmmph…"_

_"You're still alive then."_

_"Am I…? Oh good… That's great…"_

_"Still sick though."_

_"No…no I'm not…just because I sleep doesn't mean…that…"_

_"You've been sleeping for two days, Azreal."_

_"…Two days!"_

_"This is the third morning. Besides, you still have a fever."_

_"No… three days… I hafta get back to work…"_

_"Work? Excuse me, but you never seemed to do that much anyway."_

_"…I'm gonna get fired…"_

_"Az, no-one can expect you to work in the state you're in. And, coming from me, you know it's bad."_

_"…Stopped too long…I need to get back…"_

_"Az?"_

_"I hafta do this!"_

_"Azreal! How are you planning on working if you can't even stand up!"_

_" _… _I can stand… I can so…"_

_"Woah!"_

_"…"_

_"She says. Good job I'm here, or you would've smacked off the floor."_

_"…but…"_

_"Just go back to sleep, alright?"_

_"…"_

_"Az? Azreal…? Well, I didn't expect you to listen to me that quickly… but who's complaining?" A shrug as he peeled Azreal off him and laid her back on the sofa._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A few hours later, nothing had really changed. Seto was just about to finish a document on his laptop (Nothing of any importance- he was just to proud to write a letter grovelling to the Americans so he was putting it off for as long as possible.) when suddenly, he saw a flash of light. Which to him, could only mean two things:

A passing thunderstorm, or the appearance of a muse. What had he seen directly before Azreal appeared? A flash of light. As it turned out, unsurprisingly, it was the latter. Lots of the latter.

Not even Seto could remain uninterested as the room began to fill up with muses. He looked at them curiously- after all, the only muse he had seen before was Azreal, and he had a feeling that she wasn't exactly normal.

There were four of them, three girls and a guy. They were all tall, well, taller then Azreal, at least. But then, most people were. Plus, they all had blond hair and while Azreal's hair was light, it was undeniably brown. None of them wore glasses, though that could just be a coincidence. The three girls/women (Who could tell how old they were?) seemed to be very keen on light blues and whites, as well as dresses or long robes. Seto couldn't really get a good look at the guy, he was skulking round in a doorway behind the others. All in all, they looked very different to Azreal.

They still hadn't said a word to him, or each other. Two of the women headed over to Azreal. Seto stood up, but he didn't know why. Perhaps he was trying to regain some command over the room, or maybe it was just a subconscious movement in preparation for helping Azreal, should he be needed. Well, whatever the reason, it was completely instinctual.

This movement caused the guy to glance up at him, but his eyes barely stopped moving before he was scowling at the doors again. It also caused the third woman, older and evidently in charge, to look sharply in his direction, and head purposefully in his direction. Seto crossed his arms and waited. He wasn't feeling to hospitable.

"You must be…" The woman glanced down at a clipboard which Seto would've sworn hadn't been there a second ago and scanned the page. "Seto Kaiba?"

"What's it to you?" Seto asked, though he knew it was a pretty dumb thing to say.

"It must be." The woman sighed "You have a little reputation going that says you're a git. Sorry about this… We'll be right with you…" And she walked off, crouching down next to the other two by the sofa and talking to them in a low voice, leaving Seto a little surprised at her audacity. And something about that conversation had seemed oddly familiar…Just like when he first met Azreal. They hadn't exactly got off to a good start…

_"Seto Kaiba?"_

_"What's it to you?"_

_"It _is _you, then. I heard you were rude git."_

_"'Git'? What are you, British? You sound like a Harry Potter novel."_

_"Not exactly… Now, c'mon!"_

_"I'm not going anywhere."_

_"But it's your turn! You have to!"_

_"What? Do what? Go where? Just who do you think you are, coming here insulting people and giving half-formed explanations!"_

_"Didn't I introduce myself? Opps. I'm a Muse, 3rd class. Name of Azreal. Currently assigned to an artist with a lack of ideas. And _you're_ my on-site help. Everyone has to do at some point… Think jury duty. Anyhoo, I'll explain better later! We hafta get goin'! Sorry, I'm running a little late…"_

_"A muse. Sure. Whatever. I'm outta here."_

He hadn't got away, of course. He was still in this, and it seemed like things were finally coming to an end. What kind of end, and who's, remained to be seen.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yugi was putting some bin liners out onto the pavement outside the game shop for the bin men to get in the morning when he saw them. Ryou and Téa, walking along the road together. He didn't know what had happened to the group recently… There was only a few days of the holiday left and they had barely met up. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. Grandpa had seen fit to give him a load of chores in the shop, Duke had phoned Yugi the other night very excited about something- Yugi hadn't been able to understand much, but from what he could glean from the babble Duke had some very important meetings this week that could make him rich and established across the world- either way, it would take up most of Duke's spare time; Mai was spending a few days in Paris with her cousins after her aunt got sick at the last minute and couldn't go, Tristan was also out of town, Joey was busy with goodness knows what and had hardly been seen or heard from over the last few days, and as for Ryou and Téa… Well, they just hadn't been seen either. And although Tristan and Mai were due back the next day and Duke was scheduled to finish whatever deal he was doing then as well, (but it had been originally intended to finish the day before, so Yugi didn't hold out much hope) the group still seemed very disjointed.

Ryou and Téa had stopped and were now standing by a crossroad. Yugi was about to call out to them when his voice stopped on his lips as Ryou and Téa squeezed hands and went their separate ways; Téa round the corner and Ryou continuing up towards him, though he still hadn't noticed Yugi. So Yugi called him.

"Ryou! Hey!" He shouted, waving. Ryou looked up, surprised, waved back, and walked a little faster till he reached the shop.

"Hi there, Yugi." He said "I haven't seen you around for a while… Putting the bins out?" He added, nodding at the black bags.

"Nope." Yugi joked, dumping the bags. "Just taking the rubbish for a walk." He sat down on the wall that bordered the garden and sat down next to an overgrown bush, gesturing for Ryou to do the same. "I'd ask you to come in, but I have a feeling Grandpa would just have us _both _mopping the floor."

Ryou laughed. "I'll help if you really want me to. I haven't got anything else planned today."

"No, it's alright." Yugi replied. "It won't take long. Was that Téa with you down there?"

"Yes, it was." Ryou nodded "She had a dance lesson, and I was heading up to town, so…"

"Oh, don't let me keep you if you need to get off." Yugi said anxiously.

"It's alright. I only needed to buy a stamp. It'll keep."

They sat in silence for a while. Yugi knew- and had a suspicion that Ryou knew- what needed to be addressed. It was just a matter of working up to it.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Téa recently, haven't you?" He asked eventually. Ryou nodded.

"Mmm."

"You must really like her." Yugi laughed, in an attempt to cover up his awkwardness.

"Yes, I do." Ryou replied uncomfortably, hiding behind his hair. Very useful stuff, hair. Yugi put this down to shyness, but in truth Ryou was feeling a little guilty. "I hope you don't… I didn't realise…"

"Shut up." Yugi said, nudging him "Before you embarrass both of us."

They found interesting spots in the sky and on the floor respectively, and studied them for a while.

"Not that I blame you." Yugi said slowly, still embarrassed. "I mean I-" He was surprised when Ryou stood up and held a hand to stop him talking.

"I think this has gone on long enough." He said. "What do you reckon?"

For a moment, Yugi wondered vaguely what was going on, then he was surprised to realise that Ryou was apparently addressing the bush. He was even more surprised to hear the bush respond.

"Yeah, I guess… This is just getting sad."

Then Yugi recognised the voice almost instantly. "Téa?" He asked. Sure enough, Téa stood up from behind the bush and stepped over it.

"Hi Yugi, Ryou." She said, as though she hid behind bushes in people's front gardens everyday.

Yugi looked back and forth between them in confusion. Ryou shrugged, and Téa said nothing.

"Just what," Yugi said finally "Is going on here?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"What do you reckon?" Rebecca, Millierie's secretary, asked the two medics anxiously, but in a low voice so that Seto wouldn't overhear their conversation. She may be here on work, aka. The Right-hand person in running the musing community, but she had always had a bit of a soft spot for her boss' rouge daughter.

"No doubt about it." The first medic replied "This girl doesn't just need to return to Wherever, she needs a hospital, fast!"

"I don't know why we weren't informed before." The second one scowled. "Signs of something this serious would have been showing up for days, even weeks!"

Rebecca shrugged uselessly. "I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you, but I'll look into it." She promised. "However, it sounds as though you should be getting that girl out of here now!"

"Right!" The two nodded, lifting Azreal between them and beginning to carry her to the door.

"This would be a lot easier if she didn't keep changing her mind about being muse or ethral." Number two said, half-jokingly this time so Seto _could _hear.

"You," Number one said, nodding at Seto. "How long has she been doing this?"

"Since I've known her." Seto replied, letting the mask of coldness slip in his worry. "More frequently since she's been sleeping."

The two medics glanced at each other, and though they did not make any response to Seto's statement, they both walked a little faster.

"Is she going to be alright?" Seto asked suddenly as they left the room.

"Of course." They replied, but they did not meet his eye.

They did not materialise and put on a human form as they left the room. Why should they? They were medics, not muses! Besides, just because Azreal was fading in and out of human's viewing range, didn't mean they had to.

Of course, they were being watched. And most people are a little freaked to see a body apparently floating of it's own accord down the stairs.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"We're taking Azreal to a hospital back in Wherever." Rebecca explained hurriedly. "She is the priority right now. When and if she recovers, we'll have a review of this case to see if she keeps her job and if all the screw-ups down here were her fault or not."

Seto knew Azreal hadn't exactly done anything, but he couldn't see any screw-ups… He nodded anyway.

"It is the management's opinion that this case can still be salvaged, however, so until such a time that the case is either deemed completed or aborted, Azreal will be replaced and the case handed to another muse in the attempt to repair the damage. At the end of the case, you will have your mind wiped as originally planned, both of us, Azreal and her replacement, as will the others she made contact with. Any questions?"

"Who's replacing her?" Seto asked stonily. Rebecca gestured at the guy to come forward.

"Lira Klio." Rebecca said, proudly. "One of our best."

"I get jobs done twice as well and twice as fast as anyone else!" Lira smiled, showing perfect white teeth. "If I were you, I'd sure be pleased to meet me!" He laughed loudly.

"Likewise." Seto replied through gritted teeth. He already disliked this guy.

There are some people in this world, and apparently in Wherever to, that are blessed with good looks even though they don't deserve it. Lira was evidently one of them, with fashionably messy blond hair, ice blue eyes and dressed like he was god's gift to women. Evidently, nothing was different in Wherever then it was on Earth. He was attractive and good at what he did, and he knew it. Seto could already tell this guy had an ego the size of Scotland. No-one could deny that he had it made, even though he didn't deserve it. He was a complete and utter jerk, it was clear to see.

This statement was often attributed to Seto himself in the girls toilet's and changing rooms, though of course Seto had no way of knowing that. But I divulge.

Rebecca could already see the tension building between Seto and Lira, and decided to make herself scarce.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Lira's smile faded.

"You want to be like that?" He snarled "Fine. Just stay out of my way while I try and save this John kid so I can get home and back to my comforts!"

"His name is Joey." Seto spat back, determined to find some sort of a comeback, however lame.

"Whatever." Lira dismissed. "I was supposed to be on leave till I had to go and pick up the pieces that mongrel left behind. It's very appropriate that she's named after the angel of Destruction."

"At least she doesn't have a girl's name." Seto retorted. "Klio. A muse from Greek Mythology, right? I believe _she _was the muse of History and heroic poetry, am I wrong?"

"I _earned_ that surname!" Lira said angrily.

"Really?" Seto smirked, glad to see that he was already irritating the guy. At moments like these, he was almost _glad _Gozaburo had made him read all those text books… "What did you do? Write a poem about yourself?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, you pathetic human!" Lira shouted. Seto shrugged and left him to smoulder. Looking completely unconcerned, he re-booted his laptop and accessed the internet.

"What are you doing?" Lira asked, annoyed at being ignored. He looked over Seto's shoulder at the website he was on. "Hey, isn't that the comic I'm supposed to get updated?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you've done your research." Seto replied sarcastically "Imagine if you had no idea what you were doing!"

"Shut it." Lira snarled. "So, you actually read this trash?"

"You're not very supportive."

"Hey, I just have to inspire the guy. No-one said anything about encouragement. Or telling the truth."

"Hmmph."

"So, you didn't answer my question. Do you read it?"

"Read it?" Seto laughed "I run the whole friggin' website for him! Didn't know who it was when I started of course… And he doesn't know who I am, thank goodness…" Seto had never admitted that to anyone, except Mokuba- and he hadn't even told Mokuba that it was _Wheeler's _comic. So he moved on quickly. "There's a character named after you, you know."

"Really?" Lira replied in a carefully bored tone. "He must have had some residual Memories form our last encounter."

"Last encounter?"

"Oh yes. You think he started that comic on his own? Not one of my better cases… So, is this character any good? I hope he didn't make me look ugly…"

"Oh, the character's nothing like you."

"No?"

"Nope. I mean, he has more Morals then you, and he's a thief."

"I hardly think that you, of-"

This very interesting 'discussion' was interrupted by Mokuba bursting into the room.

"Seto." He said slowly. "What is going on… and why was that Mitsan girl floating down the stairs?"

Uh-oh.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Téa and Ryou explained themselves, trying not to laugh as they did so. Their trick had been cruel, yes, but funny. Very funny. Yugi was laughing to, which was a nice surprise for them. They were glad he could see the humour in it. To be honest, he had never been all that enthusiastic to set Téa and Ryou up and it was great to see them give as good as they got. Plus they were the last to people Yugi would expect to do something so devious…

"Hey." He said suddenly, with a strange look on his face. "Have you told Duke and the others yet?"

"No." Ryou replied, confused. "Why?"

"Because I have a brilliant idea…" Yugi grinned.

"I'm intrigued." Téa said "Tell me more."

"Um, Téa…?" Ryou said tentatively "Didn't you _really _have a dance class?"

"Yeah," Téa said lightly. "But it doesn't start till-" she glanced at her watch and started t run down the street. "Fifteen minutes ago! Sorry guys!"

The other two watched her go in slight disbelief.

"Anyway…" Ryou prompted. Yugi opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by Solomon sticking his head out of the game shop door.

"Yugi." He said "I'm sorry to pull you away from your friends but this floor won't mop itself!" He went back inside.

Yugi's face fell. "Well, I guess that's it… Maybe I can phone you or something… Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Are we all still meeting up at the park?"

Ryou nodded, then added "I'll give you a hand, Yugi. I want to find out this idea of yours!"

"You sure?"

"Oh yes. When you get cunning, Yugi, it's usually worth seeing…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Mokuba had been walking innocently along the hall when it happened. Well, not really _innocently_, as he was going with the intention of eavesdropping on his older brother, but still. He was worried about his brother, suddenly using that creepy room and not letting him in… and now he could hear Seto's voice again, even though he had heard no-one enter the room.

"Is she going to be alright?" he heard his brother say as the door opened, and a body, that he quickly recognised as the weird Mitsan girl, floated out, carried by invisible threads. Mokuba instinctively knew he couldn't be seen, and went to hide in his room for a while. Once he had convinced himself that he was sane and that all the strange events of the past week were connected, he went to confront his brother.

He _had _to know what was going on.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Rebecca knocked softly on Millierie's office door. "Ma'am?" She called out. "It's me."

"Oh, come in 'Becca." Millierie called, and as her secretary entered the large room, stood up. "Well? How is everything?"

"Azreal has returned to Wherever Miss, but is in the General Hospital."

"The General Hospital!" Millierie exploded "Then why am I paying for private health care!"

"The…the General Hospital was nearer, ma'am. I'm afraid it doesn't look good."

"Oh Lord…" Millierie groaned "It had to be Azreal, didn't it? Pass me my coat, please, Rebecca." Rebecca complied, but still asked a question.

"Where are you going though?"

Millierie looked at her as though she was a fool. "The hospital!"

"Millierie…" Rebecca said slowly "I speak to you now as a friend…you can't just up and leave. There's no time to organise the proper security, and it's not safe out there…besides, we're up to our necks here, someone's been illegally Speed Inspiring and now half of Shakespeare's plays have been affected… we need you, Millie."

Millierie looked at her desperately. "I know! But I've already missed so much of Azreal's life… _she _needs me to."

Rebecca looked at her. "Alright. Go on. I'll cover you."

"Thankyou." Millierie gasped, already half out of the room.

"You'll have to come back if the Shakespeare thing crops up!" Rebecca called after her, shaking her head.

"I know!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Chapter ten done, and whew, that was a hard one! All that in one day! You've finally met Lira (CoughDorian!Cough) and boy, is he a jerk! You wouldn't believe the _extensive _research gone into this chapter… and I use extensive in the smallest sense of the word… I've planned this story to be thirteen chapters in total, which isn't far off my original estimate of twelve chapters. As there are only another three to go (!) I thought this would be a good time to give some background. Only read it if you're interested in how stories come about, like me! But, I must admit, I'm beginning to think I'm the only background loving freak out there… But hey, I'm bored.

The Names

I went on good ole' www. behind the name . com (No spaces)for most of the new character's names from this chapter, and that's where I got all the traditional Muse names. For example, this is what it had to say on the subject of 'Klio':

_KLIO_

_Gender: Feminine_

_Usage: Greek Mythology_

_Extra Info: Related Names_

_Options: Contribute Information_

_Derived from Greek kleos meaning "glory". In Greek mythology she was the muse of history and heroic poetry. She was said to have introduced the alphabet to Greece._

Lira is just a name I made up… see the characters section…

And, although I couldn't find a way to mention it in this fic, Rebecca's second name is:

_**ERATO** __**Gender:** Feminine  
**Usage:** Greek Mythology  
**Extra Info:** Namesakes  
**Options:** __Contribute Information_ _Means "lovely" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was the muse of lyric poetry._

Rebecca had no real significance, though.

The name Kiyoko is a real Japanese first name:

_**KIYOKO** __**Gender:** Feminine  
**Usage:** Japanese  
**Extra Info:** Comments  
**Options:** __Contribute Information_ _Means "clean child" in Japanese._

Though I didn't know that till just now... Shrug

Azreal, of course, is the Angel of Destruction, 'The Left Hand of God', according to Mythology.

Doug, Ruby, and James were just randomly picked names… no story there. Azreal's human name, 'Anna', however, is kinda an inside joke, when we had to write a story for school and Scooby saw fit to call her heroes Anna and Tim. Since then it has been an ongoing argument, mainly themed on the basis of 'You Can't Call a Hero Anna!'. Mitsan and Millierie were just names I made up by shoving a load of random letters together and hoping it worked.

Azreal's sisters, Ruby, Emerald and Opal were named after their eye colours as mentioned earlier. Yes, that does mean that Ruby has red eyes. But what are you going to do?

The Characters:

Not one of these characters were created specially for this fic. Azreal, Lira, Phoenix and Maya (The Characters in Joey's webcomic) were all around before hand for an original story I'm working on, in which Lira, Maya and Phoenix are a bunch of thieves of Magical artefacts.

The Origins and Development…

Azreal Kiyoko- The most recent of my original characters, in the story she is a rather bad bounty hunter who is sent on the trail of the three thieves… only she's not very good at it, and ends up on the run herself. She's the character that no matter where she goes or what she says, something bad always happens to her. And it's always to do with the other three…

Lira Klio- He started life as an Andalite (an alien kinda like a blue centaur or deer) in a set of Animorphs fics which I never put online, where he was Elfangor's partner and best friend before dying a tragic death. Later, after he became human, his name, for some incomprehensible reason, became Chris. This was a very early version of the Lira you can see in my story today. (You can see Chris and Maya in my fic 'We're not alone!') Needless to say, I changed his name back! Needless to say, he is not this much of a jerk in 'real life'. Just a bit cold. This Lira was modelled on an exaggerated Dorian Gray from 9th Elsewhere.

TheComic & Story:

One of the fics in the set of Animorphs fics that I mentioned early had a band in it, and I wrote all the lyrics for their songs down in a notebook. My favourite was one called 'Angel With Broken Wings', add an 's' and presto!-It became the title for Joey's webcomic. I've lost that notebook, the fic and the lyrics now, unfortunately…

The characters for it are all either in a fanfic or original story, even Phoenix who makes a brief entrance in 'Something in the Air'. But one day, she will get her own fic! Grr!

Some of you may be wondering why I chose Joey to need the inspiring. Well, in the original version, which was a present for Scooby in exchange for a mega cool Yami fan-art, the idea was to make Joey's life as miserable as possible, but it backfired on Ryou. Azreal wasn't even involved. I decided to keep it as Joey to give the most tension between Seto and him… plus, I just can't imagine Joey being able to draw, so it's been interesting.

You may also wonder why a webcomic. Well, I just wanted some way for Seto to have unwittingly helped him! Why? I have no idea….

Well, that was long and boring… oh well! Now, I have to go remind everyone that it's my birthday on Thurs!


	11. All's Fair in Love and War I think

A/N: Another early chapter… yay. Warning! This one is looooooooooooooooong. Even longer then the last chapter! Not bad, considering I wrote it all in one day after about three hours sleep. It took a whole lot of chocolate Easter Eggs to get this done…Seriously. It's the day after my birthday, (As I write this) I had some friends sleep over last night and, naturally, I was awake till five in the morning then I was up at half eight. Well, three and a half hours. But was a great night. We ate junk food, and we watched TV. What did we watch? Well, a bit of something called '10th Kingdom' which I didn't really like, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and part of YGO series one! I'm feeling all nostalgic now… Episodes from back when we first realised that Pokémon cards just wouldn't cut it anymore, when Yami and Yugi sounded exactly the same, when you didn't have to tribute summon and when Feral Imp was a powerful card… ahem.

Willowwind: Um… remind me not to respond to reviews via. E-mail… Thanks for the reviews anyway, You're my only reader…

Disclaimer: If I owned YGO I would have enough money to hire someone to write these disclaimers for me. (Also 9E rip-off… go read the comic and help get it published on paper!)

Now, without further ado…

Chapter Eleven: All's Fair in Love and War… I think.

**Posted By: AngelAuthor**

**At: 10:22 AM JST**

**Subject: And I'm back!**

**Well, after an almost two week delay, I'm finally back and with a comic to boot! THE COMIC SHALL CONTINUE! And long may it live, eh? But before I explain where I've been all this time, there's a few things I want to say…**

**First of all, I'd like to thank all you lovely readers for the supporting/threatening e-mails and for sticking with me all this time. You people rock.**

**I also want to say thanks to the dude that keeps this site running. Webby, whoever you are, I couldn't do this without you sending me angry E-mails telling me to update before the internet becomes obsolete or fixing the site when it's broke. Without you, I wouldn't even have hyperlinks!**

**Anyhoo, the reason I went… Well, a slump. Writer's Block. Sure, I've had it before, but never as bad as it was this time. It's like the characters had died… I couldn't make them come alive anymore.**

**But! Someone must've used a Phoenix Down, cause they are BACK, baby! Let's just say I found my muse…**

**Maybe the bumper issue (Double size- took me the best part of three days to get it up to scratch!) and the impulsive introduction of a new character will make up for it…. No? Oh well… Apologies, and enjoy, my faithful fans!**

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"You're back, then."  
"Correct, ape boy."_

_"Oh, what a relief. And I thought I'd lost you for ever."_

_"Oh, shut up. I'm very important, you know, so I don't need none of your lip!"_

_"Double negative."_

_"…What!"_

_"…"_

_"What did you say!"_

_"Nothing important."_

_"If I say it's important, then it is! What did you call me?"_

_"I didn't call you anything."_

_"Yes you did! You so obviously did! So don't tell me you didn't when you did!"_

_"Oh, fine, you win. I should have known that I was no match for your superior intelligence."_

_"Hmmph. You think you're so great, don't you?"_

_"Not in comparison to you."_

_"Yeah? Well, it seems Azreal thought so to."_

_"What?"_

_"Azreal kissed _me, _dumbass. Or tried to, right before she came down here."_

_"…That's none of concern. There's no reason for you to tell me."_

_"Oh, but I want to. I want you to hear every single word, and I want you to remember it when you're awake and when you're sleeping, and I want it to burn away at you till the day you die."_

_"Not likely. I'm getting mind-wiped, remember?"_

_"Stop interrupting! I had been going out with one of her sisters, Ruby, was an entire year. It was our anniversary of my asking her out, and coincidently, her birthday, so Ruby was having a party."_

_"Whoop-de-do…Big deal."_

_"Oh, it was. I told Ruby not to invite Azreal, that she would ruin things, but Ruby wouldn't listen. She _insisted _that Azreal wasn't a… bad egg. So, when I ended up in a room with the girl, I was prepared for trouble."_

_"Like a good little boy scout."_

_"Shut up! Azreal had never liked me, always accusing me of speed-inspiring- As if I'd do something like that! I think the girl is a little mad…I blame it on the human blood. Our people shouldn't mix._

_"_Human blood_?"_

_"That's right. Oh, didn't she tell you? How naughty of her. Azreal's daddy was a human."_

_Seto said nothing, much to Lira's disappointment. Seto was beginning to guess about exactly what Azreal had meant on the day of the meeting with the Americans…_

_" Anyway, when we were alone together, she suddenly admitted she was jealous and kissed me!"_

_"Bet you loved that."_

_"No, actually, I didn't. Thank goodness Ruby came in when she did, or I may never have got her off me!"_

_"…So, then what happened?"  
"Interested now?"_

_"…"_

_"Well, Azreal tried to blame the whole thing on me. Ruby didn't believe her, of course, but she forgave the girl. Ruby… She's just far too nice for her own good."_

_"So, what was the point in that little trip down memory lane?"_

_"…"_

_"Hello? I said: 'What was-"_

_"I heard you! But if you don't know already, I guess you'll never know."_

_"How do you suggest I know 'already' when you haven't told me in the first place?"_

_"Arrgh! Just shut up, already!"_

_"Whatever you say…"_

_"That's right, ape boy. _Whatever _I say. You're treading a mighty thin line, so watch out… I'm not as nice as Azreal, and I always carry out my threats."_

_"What threats would these be?"_

_Lira's response was long, graphic and rather unpleasant, so I think I'll just neglect to mention it. _

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Urrghmmph…" Azreal groaned, returning to consciousness slowly. It felt as there had been some wild party in her head and she had just killed everyone in it so now she had to tidy up all on her own.

"She's awake." Someone said.

"About time." A second commented.

"She must've been real sick to sleep that long." A third said.

"What do you expect?" The second replied "She kissed that boyfriend of yours. I may not agree with all Az's accusations, but it's plain to see he's a jerk."

"Can we talk about this later, guys?" The first one pleaded. "This is Az's time now…"

The voices were so similar that many would not recognise that they were three people instead of one. But Azreal knew them well, and she instantly recognised Emerald, Opal and Ruby the second they opened their mouths. What were they doing down here? Azreal sat up unsteadily to look round the room. And failed. So she decided to stay lying down.

"Easy there, lil' sis." Emerald said, concerned.

"You're still very weak." Opal added scornfully. "Don't rush it, idiot."

"What are you guys doing here?" Azreal asked, confused looking up at her sisters, perfectness manifested into flesh and split into three.

"Duh." Ruby said. "We came to see you."

"Are you aloud to do that?" Azreal's slow brain couldn't handle this kind of thing at the moment.

"Why wouldn't we be aloud to see our own sister?" Ruby asked, now her turn to be confused.

"I thought it took ages to get permission to come down to Earth…" Azreal trailed off, sitting up again but succeeding this time. "Even with our mom running the Muses…" In her current position, she was high enough to see the slightly concerned look pass between Ruby and Emerald. Opal, however, who by now had returned to her book in the corner of the room just rolled her eyes.

"Look around, moron." She said "You're in a hospital room." Azreal did look around, and her brain began to comprehend what it's eyes were seeing.

"So…I'm not on Earth anymore?"

"Correct, genius." Opal replied. Many people would be fooled by Opal's abrasiveness, but after all the years Azreal had come to know that behind the smart mouth was a heart of gold, and Opal had come to her aid just as many times as her other half-sisters. Opal preferred theory to actual practise of Musing, but she, like her two siblings, excelled in the field. It was once said in a paper that ran an article on the family that if it had ever been done before, Opal would have done it again only better, and if it hadn't have been done before Opal would have invented it. Which, in many cases was true.

The same article had branded Ruby as the unspoken leader of the Kiyoko girls, the best at public speaking and other things. She was a breath of fresh air to those she inspired, and was both informed, radical and streetwise in her approach to things. She was defiantly something new and fresh, going with whatever worked rather then something that suited her. It was obvious who was going to be the next President of the Musing company, and the people liked the idea of it being run on common sense rather then on a particular political viewpoint. Many would be happy to see her run the government as well, but that was another matter entirely.

Emerald was the caring one, who came to understand what problem her charges had before she inspired them. She was the kind of girl who worked extra shifts at night or on national holidays just to help as many people as possible. She was more then a little fanatical about helping people; she even had a large banner over her bed that read 'If you cannot hear a plea for help, how can you hear a song or a laugh? How can you feel emotion when you can't learn from those around you? Help others to live, then you are truly alive'. You may think this is a little long for a personal motto, but Emerald generally shortened it to just the last sentence, and she said it often. She was so gung-ho about helping everyone- not just humans, but plants, animals and even inanimate objects- that Azreal often wondered if she would be better off as a nurse then a muse.

Azreal's section was small, just a few sentences written as far away from the others as possible so that she wouldn't come under the heading of 'The Kiyoko Girls- Which one is your fave?'. This is what the paper had to say about her:

**_Azreal Kiyoko- The Black sheep of the family. A constant burden and blemish on her mother and her sisters. Always trying to show off, so the less said about her the better! Let's just hope the half-human gets herself killed one of these days, eh? _**

Azreal clenched her fists. That article had been one of the worse, no frills added or no regard of tact, just blatant hostility. She was so sick of all these peop-

"Azreal! Wakey wakey!" Ruby bellowed down her ear. "What, are you in a coma or something." Azreal looked at her blankly. She had completely missed everything Ruby had said to her.

"You got pulled out." Ruby explained. "Because you were sick. They were going to pull you out anyway, but…"

"Why!" Azreal yelled "Why were they gonna pull me out anyway!"

"Calm down, Az…" Emerald said. "You're still ill."

"Answer the question!"

"You screwed up." Opal said bluntly. "All those little stunts you pulled. Quite frankly, it's embarrassing. All those extra mind wipes, your dad, that whole thing with setting up the friends… You've really done it this time, Az."

"Ryou and Téa!" Azreal retaliated. "That was totally legitimate! You're _supposed _to help love grow!"

"Grow, not _plant_ it. And you seem to be doing quite a bit of that…"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"What are they going to do?" Azreal said, fearful now.

"You're going to have a case review…" Ruby said. "To see if you keep your job, and… oh, there's no easy way to say this…"

"Then say it the hard way!"

"Azreal…"

"Tell me!"

"You've been charged with trying to sabotage the musing operation on Earth."

"What!" Azreal screamed "But that's absurd! Musing is my life!"

"We know…" Emerald said, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry, it'll be okay. No-one believes that accusation."

"Yes they do." Opal shrugged. Her other two-thirds glared at her. "Face it, Az. Given your track record, it would look suspicious to an outsider. Especially with your parentage thrown in."

"What about my parentage?" Azreal asked dangerously, standing up.

"Calm down there, kiddo." Ruby said, passing her something. "Here, mom left a card. She was here, honestly, but then she had to go-"

"Work." Azreal completed bitterly. "Work, again. She's never here."

"Oh, c'mon…" Emerald said in a vain attempt to kill the tension. "It's a great card."

"A great card. Wonderful." Azreal said sarcastically. "Now all I really want is a mom that gives a shift if I live or die!"

"Azreal, that's not true and you know it!" Ruby said sternly "Mom does her best for us, so be a little grateful you brat!"

"It'd be better to starve and have love then have plenty but be unloved!" Azreal screamed back. Emerald watched the argument progress in horror. Opal just carried on reading. Azreal was still shouting. "I haven't seen her for six months! And we supposedly live in the same house! Why don't I ever see her, then, Ruby, if she loves me so much!"

"You'll see her soon enough." Opal interrupted coolly before Ruby could retort. "She's the one doing your case."

"Opal!" Ruby yelled. They had agreed not to tell Azreal that until the last possible second!

"Oh, this just gets better and better!" Azreal yelled. "The next time I see my mother will be in _court_!"

"You won't get any favouritism, I'm afraid." Emerald said. "The case is to take place as soon as you're fully recovered, so you'll be ready for it and they'll probably take your illness into account…"

"What illness?" Azreal asked, no longer angry but confused.

Her sisters exchanged looks.

"What illness!" Azreal demanded.

"Your human blood." Ruby said, as though it was obvious.

"I don't know why they let someone like Azreal go down to Earth in the first place…" Emerald said as though Azreal wasn't there. "It's dangerous enough for the best of us down there, when we become too human, but in Azreal's condition-"

"It's not a condition!" Azreal yelled suddenly. "You always said that the papers were liars but you're all the same! Just because I'm different doesn't necessarily mean I'm bad! You treat me as though I have some sort of disability, like I'm a mental patient! You're always saying it's not my fault, that it's no-one's fault, that I was born just the way I was supposed to be- but that's not true! We all know who's fault it is, don't we!"

"Azreal…" Emerald said. "Don't."

"Let her talk." Ruby sneered, folding her arms. "She's beyond any reason."

"You know!" Azreal screeched. "It's mom's fault! Because she couldn't keep her mind on the job and her legs closed! And you have to wonder, how many other men has there been? Are human men just easier to get because no right-minded Muse would look at her-"

Ruby slapped her round the face with such force that Azreal fell back on the bed. Opal and Emerald exchanged worried looks. Ruby and Az had squabbled before, even had Richter-scale rows, but they had never resorted to violence. Never. Not even when they were kids…

"Don't you ever, _Ever, _talk about our mom that way." Ruby said quietly. "She loved your father- she left for _our _benefit- and she hasn't had another man since!"

Azreal stood up again, resisting the urge to rub her stinging cheek. She was ready to send some serious abuse Ruby's way, but then suddenly she felt her anger ebbing into grief.

"If that's true, then why can't I be me!" She cried, holding back tears. "Why doesn't anyone ever think that having human blood could be a _good _thing! We've been Inspiring humans for years, we need each other! They need us to create and we need them to create to survive! So why can't they know who we are? Why do they have to forget! Why do the races have to be separated! What's so wrong with humans!"

"If they knew about us, they'd wouldn't want our help." Ruby said coolly. "The humans are proud, they want to do everything themselves, and even when they see that they can't do it alone, they try anyway. Besides, if they can't even get along with their own race, how are you expecting them to get on with ours?"

"You're wrong." Azreal said. "I'm proof of that. You're wrong! You're _all _wrong! You think all humans are the same, but you don't know anything! Sometimes you think that they're something and then they're something else entirely! You inspire them Ruby, but do you ever get to know them? They may just surprise you. You say that it wouldn't work if they knew about us… well, of course it's not going to work if you don't give it a chance! It's not the humans that are the problem, it's you and people like you! Everyone and everything needs a chance, including peace and including me!" She ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Silence fell.

"She's feeling better." Ruby said wryly after a while. Emerald nodded in agreement.

"Don't pay her any heed, Rubs. She didn't mean it. I bet that was just all the bitterness that's built up over the years about the way she's treated finally being expressed."

"Yeah." Opal agreed, resuming her reading after real life became boring again. "She must really love the guy."

Emerald and Ruby looked at her in confusion. Opal looked back indcredously, then laughed.

"You know, considering how mush you've been spying on Azreal, you're really not very perceptive…" She giggled. And, no matter how much they asked, Opal maintained a stony silence.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Today," Duke declared, raising an arm in the air "Is a day for celebration! Fun and food for all!"

"Does that mean you're going to buy the ice cream for us?" Mai teased, pocking him in the side. There was four of them travelling down the road- Herself, Joey, Tristan and Duke- to the park, where they'd meet the other three (Yugi, Téa, Ryou) and, well, enjoy the preliminary day of the holidays.

"Okay, I didn't see that one coming." Duke laughed good naturedly. "But hey, I'm in a good mood and I'm rich. Why not?"

"What are we celebrating again?" Tristan asked sarcastically "You've only told us a thousand and one times."

"My new deal to see DDM in America!" Duke shouted happily. "Make that one thousand and two, Tristan."

"You know, there's something else to celebrate!" Joey added. "I finally updated my comic!" After enthusiastic congratulations from his friends, Mai looked thoughtful as they passed through the park gates.

"That's you two." She said. "What are we celebrating, Tristan…? Oh, wait, the new Debbie Morgan line comes out in shops tomorrow! That's me happy!"

"Tristan?" Duke asked.

"Hmm…" He thought fir a moment "I know! I'll celebrate the day that we get freebies off _Duke_!" They laughed, then Joey saw something.

"Hey, isn't that the others up there?" He asked, squinting in the sun.

"Yeah." Tristan agreed. "But what's going on?"

Tristan was right, it really did seem like something was going on. They could see Téa and Yugi standing together, looking horrified, and Ryou standing oppisite them looking…hurt. Betrayed.

Yugi was saying something now, but Ryou was shaking his head. Suddenly, he turned and began to run away from Yugi and Téa, towards them, though he didn't seem to know that.

Téa reached out and grabbed his arm, trying to turn him round. Now close enough to hear them, they clearly heard Téa call out.

"Ryou! Please, wait! Let us explain!" Ryou pulled his arm away.

"Explain what Téa!" He yelled. "Explain what! Even after all those friendship speeches, it means nothing to you! Admit it! It's all a load of crap, isn't it!"

Tristan and the others exchanged looks. This looked bad.

"Ryou, that's just not true!" Téa insisted. "I didn't mean to…" Ryou just raised his eyebrows.

"Ryou…" Yugi said, speaking for the first time now that Téa was fixated on the ground. "We… we didn't mean to hurt you…that's why we didn't tell you…we still want to be your friend…" It sounded pathetic, even from a distance.

"Well, you did, Yugi!" Ryou yelled. He looked like he was about to cry. "How am I supposed to be friends if I can't even trust you!" He continued in this fashion for some while, his speech deteriorating from Japanese until eventually he was just yelling at Yugi in English, apparently not noticing.

Duke and the others decided not to go any closer.

Yugi just stood and took it. He didn't try to argue with anything Ryou said. Eventually, Ryou stopped, breathing hard, gave Yugi and Téa a last dirty look and turned to walk out of the park.

As he walked past, Tristan said in a falsely cheerful voice: "Hey Ryou! Want some ice-cream? Duke's buying…"

"No thanks." Ryou said, fists clenched and not slowing in pace. "I'm not hungry.

"Wait!" Tristan called after him. "Where are you going!"

"Sorry guys." Ryou said over his shoulder. "I have to go before I… Look, you must've heard. I've already said stuff I'll probably regret. I don't want to do it to."

They watched Ryou leave the park, but who knows where he'd go after that.

"Poor guy…" Mai muttered in sympathy. They'd all guessed what had happened, of course. For whatever reason, Téa and Yugi had evidently been secretly going out. And Ryou had just caught them at it.

Their two friends approached, looking shame-faced.

"I guess you heard all that." Téa said quietly. They nodded, still slightly disbelieving. "Look… I know it sounds terrible- well, it is terrible, but we honestly didn't tell him because we knew… knew that…"

"This would happen?" Mai asked, disapprovingly. "But it's not us you should be explaining to…"

"I can't believe you'd do something like that Yugi!" Joey said finally.

"Neither can I…" Yugi sighed. "I feel terrible. And I deserve it." They stood for a moment, then suddenly Yugi ran off.

"Where are you going!" Duke called after him. Yugi spun round and ran backwards for a few steps to reply.

"To grovel! Where'd you think!"

"Me to!" Téa said, running after him. Duke, Joey, Tristan and Mai watched them go.

"Don't they know they're just going to make things worse!" Mai screamed in frustration. "We've gotta stop them!"

"Right!" Tristan agreed, and those two ran off as well.

Duke looked at Joey. Joey looked at Duke.

"Well, some celebration this is." Duke huffed, folding his arms.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Téa and Yugi found Ryou sitting on a low wall a few streets away from the park. He smiled as he saw them coming, and when they sat down, they all looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"That was great!" Téa whopped "I have no idea how you came up with that, Yugi, but I loved it!"

"It wasn't that great." Yugi said modestly "It wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for Ryou's superb acting."

"I wasn't that good." Ryou shrugged. "You and Téa were the real stars, you looked so guilty!"

Téa looked back and forth between the boys. "Fine!" She yelled, "I'll be the non-modest one! We rocked!"

Ryou and Yugi were expressing their wholehearted agreement, when Ryou stopped and stared at something over Yugi's and Téa's heads. They turned round to see a rather annoyed Mai and a confused looking Tristan.

"Uh-oh…" Yugi sighed.

They explained themselves, starting with Téa and Ryou, and then Yugi when he came into it. Mai and Tristan found it rather funny, after the initial annoyance had passed. Well, it _had _been a rather well played out joke. Plus they had deserved it.

"I can't wait to see Joey's face when we tell him!"

"Oh, don't tell him yet…" Ryou said. They all looked at him. "It's my turn to decide what we do, no?"

"Does that mean… you have an idea? Mai asked suspiciously.

"It does." Ryou confirmed. "Now, stop me if you've heard it before… Or if you think this is going a little too far… Especially you, Yugi…"

Tristan and Yugi exchanged glances. Ryou made them nervous when he was sneaky.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The doorbell went, and once again Seto had to open the door. He really should fire that Butler. But then, anything to get away from Lira's _fascinating _conversation. Thank goodness he was leaving soon. Excepting to find a journalist or a salesman, Seto was surprised to see Azreal, her human self, standing on the doorstep. But he quickly regained composure.

"Azreal." He said coolly. Just then, Lira appeared behind him.

"Az!" He drawled. "And here was me thinking you left a challenge for me. I mean, you were here for a week and a half and only succeeded in being landed in hospital; I spend a day here and it's done!" He laughed in an irritating way. Azreal glared at him.

"Hello, Lira." She said through gritted teeth. Seto noticed she was holding some sort of instrument. "There's a portal back to Wherever over there for you. Why don't you go jump in it?"

"Ha ha ha." But none the less, Lira started to walk out of the door and towards the vortex.

"They replaced me with _him_?" Azreal asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Bet you guys got on really well."

"What are you doing here, Azreal?" Seto asked bluntly. "The Case is over. Wheeler updated the comic.

"Oh, I…" Azreal fumbled for words and to activate the little gadget she was holding. "The review for the case is coming up soon and I hafta get copies of your memories for evidence so-"

"I know." Seto interrupted. "Lira already told me. And copied my memories."

"Oh."

"Glad to see you're better, by the way."

"Thanks."

A long, awkward silence fell between them.

"Is there any reason for your still being here?" Seto said.

"He told you, didn't he." Azreal sighed. "About my parents."  
"Yes."

"I'm so sorry! I was going to tell you but I didn't see the… well, I didn't mean to offend-"

"And about that kiss of yours."

"Huh?"

"Trying to steal your sister's boyfriend. I'm beginning to wonder just what kind of person you are."

"…Wonder no longer." Azreal nodded towards the vortex, where a few people were climbing out with strange looking equipment. "Here comes the mind wipe team. Looks like they've already done Yugi and the others."

"Then I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah." Azreal reluctantly started to walk towards the vortex as the mind-wipe people came closer to Seto and herself. "See ya, Seto. It's been real."

"Goodbye, Azreal."

Azreal watched as Seto had the process explained to him and had the pads attached to his forehead. She knew she should keep walking, but there was something she had to say first.

"Seto!" She yelled across the ground. He looked up. So did the mind-wipe team, looking irritated. They were already going to have to work late because of Azreal. "He kissed me!"

"What…?" Seto asked.

"He wanted to break up the family! I just wanted you to know!" Azreal yelled, though to herself she added: "Looks like he did a pretty good job, to…" She continued to walk to the vortex, determined not to look back. She was just about to step through, when she heard Seto calling her.

"Azreal!" She turned. The Mind-wipe squad, who had just been about to inject Seto with the drug to knock him out for a while became even more annoyed. "Azreal! Joey updated the comic before Lira got here!"

"Huh?"

"It said on the post that he'd been drawing for three days- _before_ Lira got here!"

Azreal stared. Maybe, just maybe it was possible… and if it was, Seto had just saved her job. She saw one of the people jab a needle in his arm, saw him fall back as he went unconscious in preparation for the wipe, and only then did she manage to speak.

"Thankyou!" She shouted, knowing it was too late. "Thanks… for everything." She stepped through the vortex back to Wherever, and this time she did not look back.

But Seto _had _heard, and the last thing he saw before his eyes were consumed by blackness was Azreal stepping back to Wherever. He was glad.

"Good luck…" He muttered blearily.

He would not see her again.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Seto…? Seto!" Seto awoke to the sound of Mokuba calling him frantically. He sat up.

"What's up with you?" He asked. The boy was almost in tears.

"What do you mean, what's up!" Mokuba yelled, hugging him. "I found you lying in the middle of the hall! And you weren't moving or anything… What happened!"

Seto looked around him in confusion. They were indeed in the hall. But he had no idea how he'd got there. The last thing he could remember, he had been reading AngelAuthor new comic. Maybe he had fallen down the stairs or something… Just who was AngelAuthor anyway? He'd like to meet him sometime… But what did that have to do with him lying down by the front door?

"Seto?" Mokuba asked anxiously. His brother was looking confused, and his eyes were all glazed over as he thought. Seto looked down in surprise, as though he had forgotten Mokuba was there.

"I…don't know…" He said slowly. Mokuba was really worried now. He'd never seen Seto so… unsure.

"Do you need to see a doctor?" He asked. Seto shook, his head, as much to attempt to clear his head as to decline.

"I'll be alright." He said, climbing to his feet. "Maybe I've just been working to much…Don't worry."

Mokuba said nothing, but his face was as clear as letters on a page.

There was something weird going on here. And he just knew that it had something to do with that Mitsan girl. There was a reason- that Seto had refused to explain, probably because it was dangerous.

But, for Seto's sake, Mokuba had to try and find out what had happened.

He'd do his best. He wouldn't let him down.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Noooo… Sugar fading…Zzzzzzz….

Wha? Oh, yeah, Last chapter on Wednesday, followed by an epilogue next Saturday. Unless I put them up early, again… You know, I've already written the epilogue, so I'll put chapter 12 up when I've done it and the Epilogue the day after. Okay? Okay. And the ? before most ofthe ! seem to have disapperared in Mokie's dialouge.Don't ask me why. And words fuse together. And the underslash between Angel and Authour has also fallen up a hole. But what're you gonna do?

Now, where was I…? Zzzzzzz….


	12. Fallen from Grace

A/N: The last proper chapter… I typed the epilogue a while ago, I'll put it up tomorrow… I feel a little sad, right now.

Augee (Hope that's spelt right…): Yay! Two reviewers:D Pity it's only for this chapter and next, heehee… And, well, Lira is kinda an exaggerated version of Dorian (That dude from 9E) But I don't think Dorian is actually a _deliberate _jerk. I mean, he just takes over, he doesn't… Oh, who am I kidding? Yes.

Willowwind: I didn't respond in an E-mail! Yay! Um… Once again, I have no idea what to say, so… yeah. I'm really not good at responses… Sorry… But remember that huge ice cream I mentioned? Well, the result was everything from Duke phoning Tristan downwards. Enjoy, you who shares my feelings on certain issues… (May or may not make more sense when you get there. Oh well.)

Disclaimer: Oh, look, a flying pig.

Chapter Twelve: Fallen From Grace

Standing on the bridge, Azreal could see right down into the lower heathens of Wherever swirling beneath her, the few buildings derelict and sinking into the mist. When the City had first been built, the lower Heathens were just too low, right on the boundary between the two realms. Now they were sinking into the 'protective' mist that encircled the entirety of any of the floating Musing cities, a mist that had been slowly eroding away at that which was to close to it, assimilating it into itself. As such, no-one went down there anymore, officially. Not even kids looking for a dare went down anymore, most were more cowardly then they'd let on. Only Azreal knew every crevice, shallow, and infirmity there was down there, because of all the times she'd hidden down there. Hidden from the judging eyes of those she lived with. Now she would never explore it again.

Despite all the horrible things said and done to her, Azreal did not want to leave. Apart from all the hazy, basic memories from early childhood, this was the only home and the only family she had known. No friends to speak of, but then she wasn't a very likable person.

She was just Weird. With a capital 'W'.

A weirdo.

The round peg in the square hole.

She was a freak.

A freak who didn't fit in. Not here, and not on Earth either. Like an actor in the back of a horse suit. She could pretend all she liked, but it wouldn't change the fact she had two legs instead of four.

Somewhere in the middle.

Maybe she should just _stay _in the middle, skulk around in the mists of the lower heathens until she to was assimilated into it, then her consciousness' would be forever eloped in the swirling mists of time till the sun expanded and Earth was done for.

Something was falling into the mist, small and round. As it fell, the little light there was in the shadow of the tiers above reflected off it, causing the drop to shimmer as it fell. Azreal watched, entranced, as it plummeted, followed by another, and another, and another… But it wasn't raining.

Hers.

Someone came and stood beside her. Her mother. Azreal refused to look up. Strange. A week ago, she would've killed for an opportunity like this, now all she wanted her mother to do was go away. Did someone still classify as a mother if they fired and exiled their own children?

"No-one will know." Millierie said reproachfully "As far as anyone who wasn't in that courtroom knows, you're still in hospital. We'll tell them you died, if you want."

Azreal maintained a bitter silence.

"Az…" Millierie said uselessly. "I had no choice…"

Azreal looked her straight in the eye in the way that Ruby had taught her for dealing with the press, and replied: "I know. You said."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**_Speed-Inspiring, _**The Muses' Ultimate Tutorial and Tips states, **_is the process by which one may take ideas from one person and give them to another in order to save time. For example, if you had two people in room, one who had an excess of ideas but not time to work with them all and another with no ideas, you could transfer ideas from the first to the second._**

**_This idea was established from _**JORAN'S THEORY **_(For more information see p127- Musing Methods Now Illegal) which also covered the idea that if you took an exhausted idea from one person and gave it to another, the idea would thus be replenished naturally without the need for more Muses to keep it alive._**

**_During the _**ECOMIC DEPRESSION **_(See p346- How Environment affects Creativity) _****_when Creativity was at it's lowest points and the Musing population was thusly dying off, Joran's Theory was implemented, but was discovered to be a disaster overnight._**

_**When an Idea was re-cycled, the energy was tainted. It did not belong to the human it was in, so did not agree with them. This did not only cause a general rise of fraud and money-laundering on Earth, (Where energy becomes useless) it caused much of the population to fall ill from Contaminated Energy.**_

_**It is because of this that 'Speed Inspiring' that despite the save in time and therefore money is illegal. The Energy collected could be going into any food stuff, and the disease could spread among the populace. **_

_**(See also p562- Musing Illnesses and p8- Methods of Inspiration)**_

_Total Deaths related to Speed Inspiring (Figures for year 10-20-10): 19, 887, 702 – The largest killer ever seen in the Musing community._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

At the 'enquiry', Azreal and the rest of the room had listened in silence as a steward (Sounding bored out of her scull) listed all the bloopers Azreal had made in her visits to Earth. Some of the memories made her cringe. It was a rather _long_ list. Miracle she'd made it this far, really. Seems that her ability to pull stuff off at the last minute had prevailed more often then she'd realised.

When the list was finally over, Millierie's voice rang out over the silent room.

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we?" She said calmly, no signs that her heart was breaking as she put her own child on trial.

And they had.

It was surprisingly straight forward. After all, there was no point in denying anything she had blatantly done.

Had she or had she not knowingly revealed herself to the humans Duke Devlin (85217a2), Yugi Motto (50097a2), Tristan Taylor (91119a2), Mai Valentine (76396b2), and Joey Wheeler (69901a2), leading to excessive mind-wipes? Yes.

Had she or had she not inadvertedly shown the above humans (85217a2, 50097a2, 91119a2, 76396b2, 69901a2) MUTT and Character notes? Yes.

Had she or had she not inadvertedly restored the memories of Doug Mitsan (36920a51) by visiting his home unnecessarily despite the fact he was off-limits? Yes.

Had she or had she not spent much of the time attempting to force Ryou Bakura (64108a3) and Téa Gardener (54807b2) into a relationship despite noticing on numerous occasions that they had no want to leading to them misleading and being mislead by their friends? Yes.

Had she or had she not attempted to force Ryou Bakura (64108a3) into a relationship with Téa Gardener (54807b2) despite the fact he was already in a firm and long-standing relationship with another person? Not knowingly.

Had she or had she not been indirectly responsible for causing Seto Kaiba (017796y) to miss a vital meeting and thus change the direction of his company? Yes.

Had she or had she not…

The questions went on and on for hours, or so it seemed. Then various people had to come and give testimony as to whether or not they thought she was a terrorist.

First up, Ruby. Said Azreal wouldn't have the guts/brain to plan even a mini-sabotage, even if she wanted to, which, incidentally, she didn't.

Opal- Pointed out that the way people treated Azreal, she certainly had a motive, but as of yet had not tried to wreak revenge. Did she think and attempt would be made? No, Azreal was just a klutz.

Emerald- Said Azreal would never do anything so terrible. Cried dramatically.Lira: Said he didn't think she would deliberately try to hurt musing community, but would do so anyway. Made numerous references to human blood. Voiced worries/suspicions of her not being in full mental health, as she was always accusing him of speed-inspiring or doing something strange. Suggested that she should be made to leave work, perhaps temporarily, to seek professional help. Jerk.

Azreal watched in a daze, and, when asked if she wanted to say anything, she replied in the same stupor, 'No'. what was the point? All the accusations were true, she'd already admitted them. She'd like to ask who Ryou was supposedly in a relationship with, but it didn't seem appropriate somehow. And whenever she tried to tell people that Lira speed-inspired on a fairly regular basis, they would ask for proof. All the proof was right there in front of them, in his case notes. What more could she give? So she said no. There was no point in defending herself. Now all they needed was for Millierie to wrap up the case and declare a verdict. Goodbye job…

"Now," Millierie said, her voice commanding and daring anyone to argue. "From the testimonies, I feel it is fairly same to say that Azreal is _not _trying to sabotage the Musing community. Any disagreements?"

There were none. Lira looked like he would love to, but he had no say in the final decision, and it wouldn't suit the act he put on in public of being a caring, understanding, gentleman.

"However…" Millierie continued, indicating that it was still not over. "There are still undeniable factors to consider- and I'm not going to repeat the list from earlier, we all know what they are- before we decide what to do. Although, yes, Miss Kiyoko _did _break numerous rules, it was her that caused Mr Wheeler to update, _not _Lira as we originally believed. Also, the trick that Azreal inadvertedly began has so far- though not completed as of yet- only succeeded in bringing the group closer together. And, as we know, friendship and love _both_ create more Creative mindsets. Thus, Azreal has brought us back more energy then we were hoping to get, although admittedly not from the proposed source."

Hold on a minute. This was good… Maybe she'd be okay. And so far, her mother could not be accused of favouritism. She began to breathe again a little. All she needed now was for Millierie to declare the final verdict, then she'd know for sure…

"All things considered and weighed against each other…" Millierie said slowly. "The positive does not balance out the negative, and so… so I have no choice but to… to rule for Azreal Kiyoko's immediate exile from Wherever and all Musing cities as a likely danger to herself and her fellow Muses."

Azreal gasped, along with her sisters. Lira smirked smugly. Now there'd be no-one around to arouse suspicions of exactly what he was doing when he was down in Earth.

"Court dismissed." Millierie said, heavily.

No sooner had the last letter been formed, Azreal ran out of the room. She couldn't face them, none of them, and so she ignored their calls as she ran past them.

And so, she had ended up here- on a bridge above the lower heathens beside her mother for the last time.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Duke was phoning Tristan, trying to arrange something. After all, it was the last day of the holidays the following day, and he and Joey still had things to celebrate. Provided their friends had managed to make up, that was.

"Hello?" Tristan said finally.

"Hey." Duke replied. "It's me. So, how'd it go earlier?"

"I dunno." Tristan sighed. "We never found them. What's the matter, anyway?"

"I was just trying to re-schedule for tomorrow."

Silence.

"Actually, I was going to go round to Yugi's and talk to him." Tristan said awkwardly.

"Oh." Duke was disheartened, but tried not to show it. "Well, do you want me and Joey to come with ya?"

"No, it's alright." Tristan said thoughtfully. "I doubt Yugi would want to talk in front of a big crowd. Nah, you Joey go ahead, I'll see if we can come and meet you later, okay?"

"Alright." Duke agreed. "Well, see ya tomorrow…"

"Hang on a minute!" Tristan's voice came down the line. "I think Mai's planning to talk to both Téa _and _Ryou… just so you know. You know what Mai's like."

"Yeah. Alright. Come and meet us later though, don't leave me alone with Joey."

Tristan laughed. "Will do. Want me to pass that onto Mai?"

"Please. See ya."

"Later."

Duke hung up, so Tristan followed suit, gazing at the wall thoughtfully before turning to face his company.  
"I think he fell for it!" He grinned. "The plan is ready to go!"

Just then, Mai's mobile started ringing. "Shh!" She said, pulling it out her pocket. "Don't let him hear where I am!"

It was lucky Mai was so rarely at home, or Duke may not have rung her mobile…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Joey and Duke were entering the park together, eyes peeled for their friends, when Duke's mobile began it's persistent ringing.

"Yo." He said, answering it. "Oh, hi. Yeah. Right. Okay. Oh. Oh dear. Yes. Right. Yeah. See ya then, then. Don't worry about it. No. No. Yeah. Bye." He hung up.

"What was that all about?" Joey asked curiously.

"It was Mai. She says they're gonna be late, apparently Téa's more upset then she deserves to be, considering what's she's done, and Tristan…" He sounded a little worried. "Well, seems to be having trouble locating either Yugi or Ryou."

"Do you reckon they came straight here?" Joey wondered aloud, shielding his eyes from the sun to look around the park.

"Maybe…" Duke shrugged. "Let's have a look around."

They did so, and eventually it paid off. They could just see the back of Ryou's head and Yugi's hair over an oddly placed hedge. No-one knew quite why it was there, but that's where it had always been. Many groups of teenagers, them included, had whiled away lazy summer afternoons making half-baked conspiracy theories. It was Ryou's that was currently in the lead, that it was an alien 'bug' disguised as a hedge to spy on humankind. After all, he had reasoned, what human would plant a hedge in such a strange place? And he had fully admitted to have read too many sci-fi novels.

That theory seemed unimportant now, or Yugi and Ryou wouldn't have been having what appeared to be a serious decision in front of it. And, unless Yugi managed to justify himself, days like that would never return. Duke ducked behind the hedge, gesturing for Joey to do the same. It was probably best for them not to interfere. But that didn't mean that they couldn't listen.

"I'm…so sorry." Yugi said quietly. "I'm not going to make excuses. There's nothing I can say, really. Besides, _I _don't understand why I did it."

"It's alright." Ryou said, after a moment's pause, surprising them all. "I think… this may actually turn out for the best… because it made me realise…or admit, I don't know… that I…"

Yugi waited patiently for Ryou to finish. Joey and Duke simultaneously got the feeling that they shouldn't be hearing this… but neither got up to leave.

"I don't think I like girls!" Ryou blurted suddenly. "That is…I mean…"

"You like boys." Yugi said calmly. How he could be so calm was anyone's guess, though, as Duke and Joey exchanged looks of horror and shock. They didn't have anything against gay people, as such… it was just unexpected. Though it would explain why Ryou never even flirted with those girls that followed him at school…

Ryou made a slightly embarrassed, non-committal noise.

"It's nothing to be embarresed about." Yugi said, after a long pause. "There's lots of people who… I mean, well, me to."

Ryou gave a surprised exclamation, which over the time they'd known him, they were beginning to suspect that it was some kind of English swear word. Then, Ryou laughed in an almost bitter way.

"It was Joey, wasn't it?" He demanded "I mean, the thought of liking guys never even crossed my mind until he came along…"

"Joey." Yugi confirmed.

Joey's eyes widened even more then they should have been capable of, and his hand flew to his mouth to stifle a curse. Duke, however, was beginning to get suspicious… Okay, if one in the group was gay, he'd buy it… but two? It didn't seem likely. Especially after all the time Yugi had liked Téa. In fact, now that he thought about it, the whole thing seemed rather fishy… For a start, he was _way _more attractive then Joey. And who knew what had gone on in that locker room? Ryou was way to 'proper' to make out with someone after spending an hour locked in a room with them!

Duke's thoughts continued in this fashion for quite a while, before he was unable to stop a slow smirk spreading across his face. If this was what he thought it was… It was good, oh yes, it was good. And Joey was too horrified to think about the situation. It was worth riding it out just to see his face.

He had to hand it to Ryou and Yugi, they were incredibly good at what they were doing. They seemed to be moving on to exactly what it was they supposedly liked about Joey.

"All that blond hair." Ryou sighed. "Why did he have to be blond…?"

"Mmm-hum." Yugi agreed. "And he's so gullible, it's cute."

"Yeah." Ryou nodded. "Does he really think we don't know he's behind that hedge with Duke?"

Busted.

Yugi laughed. "Plus he actually believed that we were gay! And that I two timed you with Téa!" (A/N: Thank goodness. They were beginning to scare me there…)

"And that we actually went out." Téa added, appearing seemingly from thin air. When Tristan and Mai joined them, they knew the game was up. Sheepishly, they stood up and walked around the hedge to join their friends.

"How much of that was a joke?" Joey asked slowly.

"All of it since we came out of that locker room." Téa giggled. "Are you mad at us, Joey?"

"Later." Joey replied, sighing. "Once the relief fades…"

"I have to hand it to you." Duke shrugged. "That was good. You had us going for quite a while there!"

"Does that mean your offer of free ice-cream is still open?" Ryou joked.

"Cheeky git…" Duke muttered "After what you just did… Oh, who am I kidding? Fine, ice-cream on me, everyone!"

There was a collective cheer, and they began to head towards the ice-cream kiosk when Duke said something else.

"Provided…" He said slowly, causing them all to stop in their tracks. "Next time _anybody _decides to change sexuality, I get a warning! Nearly gave me a heart attack…"

"And…" Ryou added "_No-one_ tries to set anyone else up! Especially me… I'm happy with the girl friend I have, thank you very much!"

"Agreed!" Everyone yelled, resuming their journey towards the promised ice-cream.

It was only fifteen minutes later, half way down a strawberry cone, that someone finally thought to ask:

"Wait a minute, Ryou…_What _girl friend?"

This could be fun.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Please, hear me out." Millierie pleaded. Azreal said nothing, so she took it as permission to continue. "I just didn't want you to make the same mistakes I did…"

"What, end up with an illegitimate kid?" Azreal replied sarcastically. "Wow, thanks for the advice, mom."

"No." Millierie said gently. "You don't belong here. You were never to designed to have a job with so many rules. You were designed to live."

"Oh, glad to hear I don't have to top myself."

"You love him."

That surprised her. Azreal looked up in shock, but Millierie just smiled back sedately.

"Don't make my mistake. Az… look, I've hardly been a good mother. I haven't really been any kind of mother at all. But, look, let me do this one thing for you. Stop doing what she think you should do, do what you _feel _you should do… I mean… Look, go back to that Kaiba guy, alright? I have a feeling he needs you. Your father to. I have a feeling… that he'll be a better parent then me, Anna."

Azreal looked up, trying to comprehend what Millierie was saying to her. "But…"

"You don't want to be here, Azreal." Mother told daughter gently. "You never did. You just knew that you ought to."

Azreal looked at her mom for a while, the doubts showing, but then… Suddenly, she sprung forward and hugged her mom hard. Millierie held her for a while, vaguely thinking of how things could've, should've, been. But it was too late now. She pushed Azreal away.

"Now, go on." She said "Your sisters are waiting to see you off." Azreal nodded, scared to speak unless she started to cry again. She began to walk off, when Millierie called after her. "And, for goodness sake, don't screw this one up Azreal! You need him!"

"I won't!"

Millierie watched as her daughter left. Things could've been so different for her… but now, perhaps things would finally turn around for her.

"Goodbye, Azreal… good luck!"

That girl… she'd need all the luck in the world and then some to pull this off.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: I know, this isn't my best work... But join me tomorrow for the Epilouge and... the end of the fic!


	13. Epilouge: Angels

A/N: First thing I'd like to do is apologise for the number of typos in the last chapter. Inexcusable... expect for the fact I was on a 2 am sugar high when writing it. Sorry. Anyhoo,this is the final chapter… Will Seto remember Azreal? (Well, it's pretty obvious, but let's pretend there's still some element of suspense) I'm not very happy with this ending to be honest, I think it's a little weak… I should re-write it. Oh well. Too late now. Besides, I've re-written bits of it, so it's better then it was. This as good as it's gonna get, I'm afraid…

Willowwind: Angst! Where! Yes I'm updating tomorrow. Today. Whatever. Thanks for all your reviews and encouragement down the line!

Disclaimer: -Insert disclaimer here-

Epilogue: Angels

_I sit and wait  
Does an angel contemplate my fate?  
And do they know  
The places where we go  
When we're grey and old?  
'cause I have been told  
That salvation lets their wings unfold  
So when I'm lying in my bed  
Thoughts running through my head  
And I feel that love is dead  
I'm loving angels instead_

Ryou was walking home, just as he did every day, (Except this time from the park) when he heard someone calling his name.

"Ryou!" The caller was short girl with a large amount of brown hair that grabbed his wrists and swung him round and round, laughing "I'm back! Isn't it great!" Ryou pulled away.

"Excuse me…" He said as politely as possible under the circumstances. "Do I know you?" The girl blinked, then started to laugh again.

"Oh, I forgot. No, you don't, but you soon will!" She started practically skipping down the street. "My name is Anna Mitsan and I am now ONE HUNDRED PERCENT HUMAN BEING!" She laughed in pure happiness and ran off.

Ryou blinked. "Strange girl…" He murmured.

_And through it all she offers me protection  
A lot of love and affection  
Whether I'm right or wrong  
And down the waterfall  
Wherever it may take me  
I know that life won't break me  
When I come to call _

_She won't forsake me  
I'm loving angels instead_

"Anna? You're back!"

"You remember me…"

"Of course! You think I'd forget twice?" Anna's, previously Azreal's, dad came and wrapped his arms around her. Anna felt herself crying a little. It seemed to be becoming a habit recently.

"Dad, I…"

"I know, I know…your mother told me you were going to move in."

"Dad! You said you remembered me by yourself!"

"Don't be mad…Welcome home, Anna."

_When I'm feeling weak  
And my pain walks down a one way street  
I look above  
And I know I'll always be blessed with love…_

"Yes?"

"Seto…?" Her heart was in her mouth as Seto glowered down at her. "Do you… do you remember me?"

Seto's eye widened a little as she spoke, recognizing her at last, then, with a lot more audacity then he'd ever had before, he leant down and kissed her.

_And as the feeling grows  
She breathes flesh to my bones  
And when love is dead  
I'm loving angels instead_

Watching up in Wherever, Lira scowled.

"Huh. They deserve each other." He said viciously. Ruby nodded.

"Yes. I'm glad Azreal didn't accept your offer." She said quietly.

"Huh? Ruby, babe, it wasn't me, she-"

"I saw you with that Grace girl as well. I should've listened to Az right at the start."

"Ruby, I don't know what-"

"You're dumped, Lira. It's over."

"What!"

"You're also fired." Azreal's mother added, approaching from down the corridor "Speed-inspiring… And stealing ideas from _Shakespeare_, of all people! What were you thinking?"

Lira sank down to the floor. He'd finally got what he deserved.

_And through it all she offers me protection  
A lot of love and affection  
Whether I'm right or wrong  
And down the waterfall  
Wherever it may take me  
I know that life won't break me  
When I come to call _

_She won't forsake me  
I'm loving angels instead_

"I'll take that as a yes…" Anna gasped, a little surprised. Seto smirked.

"What, didn't you like it, Az?"

"Actually, it's Anna." Anna replied, reaching up to him "And I'll show you just how much I liked it…"

Watching from the top of the stairs, Mokuba decided to slip quietly back into his room. Whatever was going on, this probably wasn't a good time to demand explanations. Besides, Seto seemed… happy… at that exact moment in time, so why rush?

_And through it all she offers me protection  
A lot of love and affection  
Whether I'm right or wrong  
And down the waterfall  
Wherever it may take me  
I know that life won't break me  
When I come to call…_

"You came back…" Seto murmured, still not releasing Anna as if he was worried she'd disappear again. He still hadn't quite come to grips with forgetting all about her, albeit for only a short while. "I haven't got rid of you yet…"

"Of course I came back." Anna replied, hugging him back. "And you know what?"

"Enlighten me."

"This time, I'm here to stay. I got chucked out."

"Does this mean that I'm stuck with you?"

"Yep."

"…Good."

_She won't forsake me  
I'm loving angels instead._

_**o-o-o-o-THE END-o-o-o-o**_

A/N: My first ever completed fic! Okay, so it was by no means a novel- only 13 chapters- but it's done. Kinda sad now, actually. There's a lot I wanted to go into more details on, mainly about Wherever itself. And Azreal's history, and future… Which means only 1 thing…

**SEQUEL!**

But not yet. First, I have to write 'Mutual Understanding'. But I'll be back…

Ooh, now I can do Radio 4 Style credits!

In Radio 4 type presenter voice: That was the final chapter of Amusing for Inspiration. It was written by Waffles4eva. The influences were webcomic 9th Elsewhere and Yu-Gi-Oh by Kazuki Takahasi. The song was 'Angels' by Robbie Williams and is available on his album Life Thru a Lens. Waffles would like to thank all those who read and/or reviewed and hopes that they enjoyed the fic.

Well, that was fun. Pretty much sums up my whole time working on this thing. Hope you enjoyed it to, blah blah blah, now go and live a full and happy life.

Smiles!

Waffles4eva.


End file.
